Intra- and interspecific diversity analyses in the genus Eremurus in Iran using genotyping-by-sequencing reveal geographic population structure

Genetic diversity analysis of big-bracted dogwood (Cornus florida and C. kousa) cultivars, interspecific hybrids, and wild-collected accessions using RADseq

Big-bracted dogwoods are popular ornamental trees known for their beautiful spring blooms with showy bracts and four-season appeal. The two most widely grown species are Cornus florida and Cornus kousa, native to Eastern North America and East Asia. Despite their horticultural prominence, there is little information available regarding genetic diversity, population structure, relatedness, and subspecies origins of dogwood cultivars. In this study, 313 cultivars, wild-collected plants, and Rutgers University breeding selections, focusing on C. florida, C. kousa, and interspecific hybrids, were genotyped using restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (RADseq) generating thousands of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and insertion deletion (Indel) markers. The research results showed high genetic diversity among C. florida and C. kousa wild-collected plants and cultivars. For C. florida, pink-bracted plants formed a distinct clade from those with white-bracts with the Mexican C. florida ssp. urbiniana forming an outgroup. For C. kousa, Chinese-collected plants (ssp. chinensis) were a distinct subspecies with clear separation from Japanese and Korean accessions (ssp. kousa) and cultivars were designated as ssp. chinensis, ssp. kousa, or ssp. hybrid. Using this information, a Kompetitive allele specific PCR (KASP) assay genotyping panel was designed to determine C. kousa trees' subspecies makeup. Results revealed many cases of genetically identical cultivars being sold under different names, especially for pink-bracted cultivars of both species. Additionally, reported parent-progeny relationships were evaluated and either validated or discredited. Finally, the hybrid germplasm analysis validated pedigrees of interspecific F1 hybrids and found many of the recent Rutgers breeding selections contain small regions of pacific dogwood (C. nuttallii) DNA introgressed into C. kousa backgrounds. This diversity study elucidates origins, diversity, and relationships of a large population of big-bracted dogwoods. The results can inform plant breeders, arboreta, and the ornamental plant industry, as most modern cultivars and popular historic cultivars are represented.

In Vitro Culture of Eremurus spectabilis (Liliaceae), a Rare Ornamental and Medicinal Plant, through Root Explants

Eremurus spectabilis M. Bieb, a perennial herbaceous wild species, is commonly used in the horticultural, ornamental, and pharmaceutical markets. Studies on the tissue culture systems for this species would be beneficial for mass multiplication as well as for future breeding programs. An in vitro propagation technique was established here using tuberous root explants as unique and responsive starting materials for culture initiation. The proliferated calli were sub-cultured on shoot proliferation media and regenerated microshoots were assessed. The shoot proliferation rate, leaf number, leaf length, and chlorophyll and carotenoid contents were recorded. The highest callus induction per explant (76.67%), callus dry weight (10.25 mg), callus firmness ratio (3.97), and callus color intensity ratio (2.83) were observed in explants inoculated on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 10.0 mgL−1 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP). The highest shoot proliferation rates were obtained when calli were sub-cultured on MS or Schenk and Hildebrandt (SH) basal media supplemented with 2.0 mgL−1 BAP. The half-strength MS medium fortified with 4.0% sucrose + 2.0 mgL−1 indole butyric acid (IBA) + 200 mgL−1 activated charcoal was a superior combination for root emergence and rooting parameters. Regenerated plantlets were then successfully adapted to ex vitro conditions. The reported protocol can be exploited at a commercial scale following minor modification, or could be beneficial in the production of secondary metabolites in bioreactors where callus is required as fresh plant material.

Iranian plant Eremurus persicus: an overview of botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology

Eremurus persicus (Jaub. & Spach) Boiss. commonly known as "Serish" is a valuable ornamental plant with culinary uses and also utilized in traditional medicine for treating Gastrointestinal diseases. This comprehensive study was performed to investigate the pharmacological and biological effects of E. persicus and the compounds identified and isolated from it in order to encourage researchers to study it further. Despite the few number of studies on the ethnopharmacology of the plant E. persicus, however studies conducted on either crude extracts, solvent fractions or isolated pure compounds from E. persicus a varied range of biological effects comprising antibacterial, anti-fungal, anti-diabetic and etc. have reported. Phytochemical analysis of different parts of E. persicus unveiled 52 phytochemicals. However, the toxicity of this plant and its ethnopharmacological claims should be thoroughly investigated.

Genetic Diversity, Pedigree Relationships, and A Haplotype-Based DNA Fingerprinting System of Red Bayberry Cultivars

High throughput sequencing was used to reveal the distribution of whole-genome variations in cultivated Morella rubra (Sieb. et Zucc.). A total of 3,151,123 SNPs, 371,757 small indels, and 15,904 SVs were detected in 52 accessions. Verification by Sanger sequencing demonstrated that the positive rate of the SNPs was approximately 97.3%. Search for more genetic variations was expanded to 141 red bayberry accessions, most of which were cultivars, by sequencing 19 selected genomic segments (SEG1-19). The results showed that each segment harbored, on average, 7.8 alleles (haplotypes), a haplotype diversity of 0.42, and a polymorphic information content (PIC) of 0.40. Seventy-two different genotypes were identified from the 141 accessions, and statistical analysis showed that the accessions with duplicated genotypes were either somatic mutants or simply synonyms. Core set selection results showed that a minimum of 34 genotypes could already have covered all the alleles on the segments. A DNA fingerprinting system was developed for red bayberry, which used the diversity information of only 8 DNA segments yet still achieved a very high efficiency without losing robustness. No large clade was robustly supported by hierarchical clustering, and well-supported small clusters mainly included close relatives. These results should lead to an improved understanding of the genetic diversity of red bayberry and be valuable for future molecular breeding and variety protection.