Abstract Detail

Crops and Wild Relatives

Klein, Laura [1], O'Hanlon, Regan [2], Pretz, Chelsea [3], Zander, Tracy [4], Miller, Allison [2].

Genotyping-by-sequencing suggests species boundaries are maintained in co-occurring Vitis species in central North America.

The European grapevine (Vitis vinifera ssp. vinifera) is the most economically important berry crop in the world, but challenges associated with abiotic (temperature, precipitation) and biotic (pest, pathogen) stress necessitate the use of hardy, disease-resistant native North American Vitis species in grapevine breeding. Various North American Vitis species have been used to generate unique scions (stems producing fruit) and rootstocks (lower stems and roots) that are then cloned and cultivated on global scales. Of these, the riverbank grape (Vitis riparia) and the rock grape (V. rupestris) have been particularly important in the development of rootstocks, with the bulk of the cultivated grapevines now grafted to just a handful of V. riparia/V. rupestris cultivars. Interspecific hybridization is widely used in viticulture to produce more vigorous plants and is well documented in nature; however, the extent of gene flow among North American Vitis congeners within natural populations remains underexplored. The goal of this study was to investigate patterns of genetic structure and differentiation in two closely related species, V. riparia and V. rupestris, and their co-occurring congeners. Sampling occurred at seven field sites in the Midwest United States. We utilized genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS), yielding a dataset of 81,467 SNPs for 178 individuals. In our assessment of genetic structure, we detected six genetic clusters. Some genetic clusters were restricted to single sites, where as other genetic clusters occurred in multiple sites. We observed evidence for some genetic admixture, but in general clusters represented distinct genetic groups in multi-dimensional scaling plots and hierarchical clustering analysis. This pattern of genetic differentiation is coherent with existing Vitaceae phylogenetic relationships and morphological species descriptions for six taxa. These data support evidence for the role of species maintenance in the presence of interspecific gene flow and advocate for the examination of complex evolutionary histories through multiple means. Current research efforts in evolutionary botany such as work presented here can partner with agricultural communities to conserve and use crop wild relatives to advance food and ecosystem security. As concerns mount about the future of food in a changing climate, refocusing attention on native species like North American Vitis as valuable sources of crop improvement can create stronger, more sustainable food production, and form the foundation of future projects examining the genomic and environmental bases of variation in plants.

1 - Saint Louis University, Department Of Botany, 3507 Laclede Ave, Saint Louis, MO, 63108, USA
2 - Saint Louis University, Biology, 3507 Laclede Ave , Saint Louis , MO, 63103, USA
3 - University of Colorado - Boulder, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 1900 Pleasant St, Boulder, CO, 80302, USA
4 - Saint Louis University, Biology, 3057 Laclede Ave, Saint Louis, MO, 63103, USA

Keywords:
Crop Wild Relatives
Vitis
genotyping by sequencing (GBS)
Hybridization
species boundaries.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 39, Crops and Wild Relatives
Location: Sundance 2/Omni Hotel
Date: Wednesday, June 28th, 2017
Time: 1:30 PM
Number: 39001
Abstract ID:406
Candidate for Awards:None