Evaluation of the Genome Size and Ploidy Level of Pears (<i>Pyrus</i> spp.) in Relation to Their Morphological Traits

In this study, 53 pear genotypes were evaluated, including 19 Asian varieties, 7 botanical species and 13 new interspecific hybrids. The ploidy level and nuclear DNA content were determined by flow cytometry. In addition, the morphological traits and their possible correlations with the genome size...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jonáš Fiala, Eliška Zezulová, Tomáš Nečas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-11-01
Series:Horticulturae
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/10/12/1241
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Summary:In this study, 53 pear genotypes were evaluated, including 19 Asian varieties, 7 botanical species and 13 new interspecific hybrids. The ploidy level and nuclear DNA content were determined by flow cytometry. In addition, the morphological traits and their possible correlations with the genome size were analyzed. One triploid genotype was found. The Asian varieties had a lower average genome size (553.4 Mbp) than the European varieties (564.1 Mbp). The average nuclear DNA content was 1.14 pg/2C for the diploid genotypes and 1.77 pg/2C DNA for the triploids. The Asian varieties had significantly larger leaves than the European ones. <i>Pyrus calleryana</i> had the smallest flowers and <i>P. Caucasica</i> the largest, but the varieties showed no significant differences in flower size. The pollen grain size ranged from 37.7 to 59.0 μm. However, there were no significant correlations between the genotype groups or genome sizes. The Asian cultivars had, on average, smaller stomata (28.4 μm) than the European cultivars (31.6 μm). The largest stomata size was measured for the triploid genotypes (37.9 μm). There was a positive correlation between the genome size and stomatal length and a negative correlation between the genome size and leaf length, leaf width and flower diameter.
ISSN:2311-7524