Posted on 01/26/2011 5:47:23 AM PST by Red Badger
Citrus species are among the most important fruit trees in the world. Citrus has a long history of cultivation, often thought to be more than 4,000 years. Until now, however, the exact genetic origins of cultivated citrus such as sweet orange (Citrus sinensis), lemon (C. limon), and grapefruit (C. paradisi) have been a mystery. A team of researchers from China has published a study in the Journal of the American Society of Horticultural Science that provides genetic evidence of the origins of a variety species of today's cultivated citrus.
The research team, led by Zhiqin Zhou from Southwest University, analyzed amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) fingerprints -- a technique that has been used successfully to assess the origin of potato cultivars -- with chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) sequence analysis and nuclear internal transcribed spacer. "The combination of nuclear DNA and cpDNA data allowed us to identify the exact genetic origin of the cultivated citrus," they wrote.
The results proved that bergamot and lemon were derived from citron and sour orange, and grapefruit was a hybrid that originated from a cross between pummelo and sweet orange. The data demonstrated that sweet orange and sour orange were hybrids of mandarin and pummelo, while rough lemon was a cross between citron and mandarin. The evidence also confirmed that bergamot was a hybrid of sour orange and citron, with sour orange as the maternal parent and citron as the paternal parent.
"Our molecular evidence presented more convincing data than all other previous studies in supporting the origin of lime," noted the scientists. The data confirmed a species of Papeda to be the female parent and C. medica as the male for mexican lime.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
Blimey!
Pollination ping!
Hey, watch the language pal. This is a family forum.
When you’re an angiosperm you have to...............
Meyer Lemon bump... best, biggest, easiest to grow, for me.
Reminds me of those goats that just drop over.
You must be a gymnosperm............
While this may not be an example of evolution through natural selection of genetic variation, it is an example of evolution through human selection (and creation) of genetic variation.
The model that they used to derive this ancestry is the same model used to show common ancestry of closely related species.
Plants are strange in that most successful crossbreeds do not have one half of the DNA of their mother and half of the DNA of their father, but ALL of the DNA of their mother and ALL of the DNA of their father. This allows them to avoid the infertility often associated with crossbreeds; for example a Tigon and/or a Lyger has problems producing viable reproductive cells because when it tries to ‘mix and match’ mom and dads genes along the chromosome, the differences between the Lion chromosome and the Tiger chromosome can often make a mess of things.
Plants are strange in that most successful crossbreeds do not have one half of the DNA of their mother and half of the DNA of their father, but ALL of the DNA of their mother and ALL of the DNA of their father. This allows them to avoid the infertility often associated with crossbreeds; for example a Tigon and/or a Lyger has problems producing viable reproductive cells because when it tries to ‘mix and match’ mom and dads genes along the chromosome, the differences between the Lion chromosome and the Tiger chromosome can often make a mess of things.
We’ll just let it be in the “cone” of silence............
... and to point to how long ago the species diverged from some point. The plants in this case still have wild ancestors available.........
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Most welcome! This stuff fascinates me!
w00t
Proof that environmentalist tree huggers have sex with trees.....
Well, learn something new everyday.
Wild bergamot or Bee balm[1] (Monarda fistulosa) is a wild flower native to North America.[2] This plant is often used as honey plant, medicinal plant, and ornamental plant.[3]
Grows all over the place here.
THIS is what I should have been looking for:
Bergamot orange, citrus fruit used in Earl Grey tea. ... The bergamot orange is unrelated to the herbs of the same name, Monarda didyma and Monarda fistulosa, which are in the mint family.
I KNEW I was doing something wrong!
Maybe just cross pollination?
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