StemCell Therapy

The historic Silk Road is responsible for one of the world's most popular fruits: the domesticated apple.

In a new study tied to the Silk Road, researchers have found genetic insights that could help plant breeders improve the crop's flavor, texture and resistance to stress and disease.

"It's amazing how well this research aids us. It's like getting a 23andMe DNA test done on your family ancestry: so much information," said Susan Brown of Cornell University, one of the nation's best-known apple breeders.

Zhangjun Fei, lead researcher on the project, a faculty member at the Boyce Thompson Institute andassociate professor at Cornell, said the discovery of new genomic information can help breeders make better apples.

The research began with an idea: to trace apple varieties' origins in hopes of learning more about their genomes, or genetic material.

According to Fei, the modern apple's two main wild progenitors, or ancestors, were the European crabapple (M. sylvestris) and the central Asian wild apple (M. sieversii). Crabapples were small and crunchy; Asian apples were large and soft.

"Those early wild species weren't so tasty," said Fei.

That's where the Silk Road comes in.

"Silk Road" is a misnomer, a blanket term for the many trade routes that crisscrossed Central Asia and Europe in antiquity, according to Princeton University historian Khodadad Rezakhani.

Historians say travelers would often snack along the Silk Road, picking a crabapple or Asian apple in one spot, eating it and tossing its core often miles away. The seeds grew into new trees, which naturally cross-bred. Cross-breeding continued, creating thousands of varieties.

As apples became a major commodity, breeders developed more cultivars.

But hybridizations with wild species have made the apple genome complex and difficult to study.

Fei, Gan-Yuan Zhong, a USDA Agricultural Research Service scientist, and a large team of multidisciplinary researchers realized the apple's unique domestication history could lead to untapped sources of genes that could be used for crop improvement.

The team compared three genomes: of the modern Gala apple, the European crabapple and the central Asian wild apple, which together account for about 90% of a domesticated apple's genome.

"We learned so much," said Fei.

The researchers identified which progenitor species and which genome regions contributed which traits. For example, they found the gene giving an apple its crunchy texture is located near the gene that makes it susceptible to blue mold.

"That provides us and breeders with an even deeper understanding of the genetic diversity underlying a particular trait," said Zhong in a statement.

Brown, the apple breeder, said linked traits like this are challenging, because the crunchiness and blue mold susceptibility genes are so close together on the chromosome. But knowing which is which, she said, will help her to use molecular markers for targeted breeding.

Brown said the research will be "incredibly useful" to the nation's top apple breeders, Kate Evans of Washington State University and Jim Luby of the University of Minnesota, along with private breeders such as the Midwest Apple Improvement Association.

"You know the Honeycrisp? That's my favorite. Think of all the new apples we might have," said Fei.

See the article here:
Silk Road reveals genetic insights that may revolutionize apple breeding - Capital Press

This entry was posted on November 7, 2020 at 5:54 am and is filed under Genetics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |