Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T15:25:50.268Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Phenotypic and molecular diversity of litchi cultivars in Mauritius

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2010

Madhvee Madhou ,
Theeshan Bahorun  and
José Ignacio Hormaza
Madhvee Madhou
Affiliation:
 Agric. Res. Ext. Unit, St Jean Road, Quatre Bornes, Mauritius
Theeshan Bahorun
Affiliation:
 Dep. Biosci., Univ. Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius
José Ignacio Hormaza*
Affiliation:
Inst. Hortofrutic. Subtrop. Mediterr. “La Mayora”, Univ. Málaga-Consejo Super. Investig. Cient. (IHSM-UMA-CSIC), Estac. Exp. “La Mayora”, 29760 Algarrobo-Costa Málaga, Spain
*
* Correspondence and reprints
Get access

Abstract

Introduction. Litchi has gained considerable economic importance in Mauritius as it is highly prized on the local and export markets for its size, colour and flavour, although no characterisation work has been performed so far. Materials and methods. In order to optimise litchi germplasm management in Mauritius, we evaluated 34 litchi accessions from three different agroclimatic regions. Phenotypic and morphological characters, and microsatellite markers were studied. Results and discussion. Phenological observations conducted over four consecutive fruiting cycles (2003/2004 to 2006/2007) showed that accessions could be grouped into early- and late-flowering cultivars, which initiated floral panicles from June to July and July to August, respectively. The harvesting season of litchi lasted from mid-November to mid-January with early-maturing cultivars being ready for harvest in the first month of the season. Phenological characters and fruit characterisation showed that the newly-introduced cultivar ‘Yook Ho Pow’ had a high commercial potential. Molecular studies using twelve pairs of SSR primers showed that, despite phenotypic variations among ‘Tai So’ genotypes in different locations (such as percentage of chicken-tongued seeds and leaflet size), the SSR profiles of leaf samples from all the studied ‘Tai So’ accessions were identical, suggesting that phenotypic differences could probably be attributed to environmental conditions rather than to genetic variations. Molecular characterisation revealed different cases of synonymies and homonymies in the genotypes studied.

Keywords

MauritiusSapindaceaeLitchi chinensisagronomic charactersmicrosatellitesphenologySSRMauritiusSapindaceaeLitchi chinensiscaractère agronomiquemicrosatellitephénologieRSSMauritiusSapindaceaeLitchi chinensiscaracterísticas agronómicasmicrosatélitesfenologíaRSS
Type
Original article
Information
Fruits , Volume 65 , Issue 3 , May 2010 , pp. 141 - 152
Copyright
© Cirad/EDP Sciences 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Morton J.F., Fruits of warm climates, Morton J.F., Miami, Florida, USA, 1987.
Huang X., Subhadrabandhu S., Mitra S.K., Ben-Arie R. Stern, R.A., Origin, history, production and processing, in: Menzel C.M., Waite G.K. (Eds.), Litchi and Longan: Botany, Production and Uses, CAB Int., Wallingford, U. K., 2005.
Rouillard G., Guého J., Les plantes et leur histoire à l’île Maurice, Éd. Océan Indien, Rose Hille, Mauritius, 1999.
Anon., Litchi in Mauritius. Production, Processing and Export, Agric. Res. Ext. Unit, Publ. by AREU/FARC, Quatre Bornes, Mauritius, 2002.
Anuntalabhochai, R., Chundet, R., Chiangda, J., Apavatjrut, P., Genetic diversity within lychee based on RAPD analysis, Acta Hortic. 575 (2002) 253–259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wünsch, A., Hormaza, J.I., Cultivar identification and genetic fingerprinting of temperate fruit tree species using DNA markers, Euphytica 125 (2002) 59–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Viruel, M.A, Hormaza, J.I., Development, characterization and variability analysis of microsatellites in lychee, Theor. Appl. Genet. 108 (2004) 896–902.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Li, M., Zheng, X., Zhu, Y., Wang, X., Liang, S., Li, L., Wu, X., Development and characterisation of SSR markers in lychee (Litchi chinensis), Mol. Ecol. Notes 6 (2006) 1205–1207.Google Scholar
Anon., Descriptors for litchi (Litchi chinensis), Int. Plant Genet. Res. Inst. (IPGRI), Rome, Italy, 2002.
Nei, M., Li, W.H., Mathematical-model for studying genetic-variation in terms of restriction endonucleases, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 76 (1979) 5269–5273.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van de Peer, Y., De Watchter, R., TREECON for Windows: A software package for the construction and drawing of evolutionary trees for the Microsoft Windows environment, Comput. Appl. Biosci. 10 (1994) 569–570.Google ScholarPubMed
Menzel, C.M, Rasmussen, T.S., Simpson, D.R., Effects of temperature and leaf water stress on growth and flowering of litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.), J. Hortic. Sci. 64 (1989) 739–752.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anupunt, P., Sukhvibul, N., Lychee and longan production in Thailand, Acta Hortic. 665 (2005) 53–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, H.B., Huang, H.B., Low temperature requirements for floral induction in lychee, Acta Hortic. 665 (2005) 195–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huang, H.B., Chen, H.B., A phase approach towards floral formation in lychee, Acta Hortic. 665 (2005) 185–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menzel, C.M., Simpson, D.R., Effects of temperature on growth and flowering of litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) cultivars, J. Hortic. Sci. 63 (1988) 349–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Hare, J.T., Interaction of temperature and vegetative flush maturity influences shoot structure and development of lychee (Litchi chinensis Sonn.), Sci. Hortic. 95 (2002) 203–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menzel, C.M., Simpson, D.R., Effects of temperature and leaf water stress on panicle and flower development of litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.), J. Hortic. Sci. 66 (1991) 335–344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lu, L.X., A review of embryo development in litchi, Acta Hortic. 558 (2001) 241–242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, W., Lu, L.X., Endogenous hormones in relation to embryo development in litchi, Acta Hortic. 558 (2001) 247–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menzel, C.M., The physiology of growth and cropping in lychee, Acta Hortic. 558 (2001) 175–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huang, H.B., Towards a better insight into the development of the arillate fruit of litchi and longan, Acta Hortic. 558 (2001) 185–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menzel C.M., Huang X., Liu C., Cultivars and plant improvement, in: Menzel C.M., Waite G.K. (Eds.), Litchi and longan: botany, production and uses, CAB Int., Wallingford, U. K., 2005.
Aradhya, M.K., Zee, F.T., Manshardt, R.M., Isozyme variation in lychee (Litchi chinensis Sonn), Sci. Hortic. 63 (1995) 21–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Degani, C., Deng, J., Beiles, A., El-Batsri, R., Goren, M., Gazit, S., Identifying lychee cultivars and their genetic relationships using Intersimple Sequence Repeat Markers, J. Am. Soc. Hortic. Sci. 128 (2003) 838–845.Google Scholar