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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Madison, Wisconsin » Vegetable Crops Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #250210
Title: Genetic Relationships Among Pyrus pyrifolia Cultivars from Southeastern China and Japan

Author
item CAI, DANYING - Zhejiang University
item ZHENG, XIAOYAN - Zhejiang University
item TENG, YUANWEN - Zhejiang University
item Spooner, David

Submitted to: Acta Horticulturae
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/15/2010
Publication Date: 10/5/2010
Citation: Cai, D., Zheng, X., Teng, Y., Spooner, D.M. 2010. Genetic Relationships Among Pyrus pyrifolia Cultivars from Southeastern China and Japan. Acta Horticulturae. 859:89-92.

Interpretive Summary: Sand pear is a round fruit similar in shape and size to an apple. It has a crunch and texture similar to that of an apple, but retains more of the sweetness and flavor of a pear. It was once cultivated primarily in China and Japan, but became popular in US due to demand by immigrants from Asia. This study examines the genetic diversity of 90 sand pear cultivars from southeastern China and Japan using a DNA (molecular) marker technically called Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms (AFLPs). AFLP data support two major groups, mostly clustering together geographically from their site of origin. Most of the sand pear cultivars from southeastern China formed one group and most of the Japanese cultivars were in the other group. However, some cultivars from southeastern China and Japan clustered together. These results correlate with prior studies which indicated that some Japanese pear cultivars are genetically similar to those from Zhejiang and Fujian Provinces of China. Nevertheless, most Japanese pears are genetically distant from Chinese sand pears. These data will be useful for managing sand pear genetic resources in genebanks and for breeders who wish to logically select genetic diversity from the collection.

Technical Abstract: A total of 90 Pyrus pyrifolia (sand pear) cultivars from southeastern China and Japan were used to assess genetic diversity and overall similarity using eight Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) primer combinations. Eighty-eight percent of the 429 bands produced were polymorphic. Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA) cluster analysis of these data support two major groups, mostly consistent with their geographic distribution. Most of the P. pyrifolia cultivars from southeastern China formed one group and most of the Japanese cultivars were in the other group. However, some cultivars from southeastern China and Japan clustered together. These results support our previous studies which indicated that some Japanese pear cultivars are genetically similar to those from Zhejiang and Fujian Provinces of China. Nevertheless, most Japanese pears are genetically distant from Chinese sand pears.