conference schedule and program with abstracts - Horticulture ...

P-76
Aestivales (Planchon), American Native Grapes: Phylogenetics and Use for Breeding of
High Quality Wine Grapes for Southeastern United States
T.A. Mongerie, J.L. Boutne, S. Krastanova, S. Leong, V.M. Colova (Tsolova)*
Florida A&M University, CESTA, Center for Viticulture and Small Fruit Research, 6505 Mahan
Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32317, USA
*Corresponding author: violetka.colova@famu.edu
Cultivars of ‘Aestivales’ are the only American native grapes with remarkable juice and wine
color stability. The native grapes of the Americas have provided valuable germplasm for
improvement and development of cultivated commercial grape genotypes for fresh fruit, wine
and processing throughout the United States and Canada, where Vitis vinifera, or “old world
grape”, can not grow. Also they have qualities for wine longevity and very pleasant “mouth
feel”. Members of the ‘Aestivales’ group including Vitis aestivalis Michaux, are found in the
eastern and central United States, from New England to Florida and from Wisconsin to Texas.
The close proximity of related species and many variants to Vitis aestivalis has created confusion
among taxonomists trying to classify grape species. The aim of this research study was to define
the phylogenetic relations among the grape species and subspecies listed under the ‘Aestivales’
Planchon group via data mining in the existing North American grape germplasm collections,
and specifically expressed in the members of the group DNA microsatellites for using them in
breeding programs and grape improvement. DNA isolation and quantification of nine
‘Aestivales’ accessions, evenly distributed throughout their area of natural habitat was
completed. Microsatellite specific PCR amplification products were obtained in nine out of ten
microsatellite markers from V. riparia which were previously and successfully used for grape
identification. The amplicons were subjected to fragment analysis and then analyzed using the
software STATISTICA, version 4.5 and a dendrogram was generated. Results found using the
Applied Biosystems Sequencer (ABI) showed two distinct groups, the first group had accessions
acquired from the south and midwest while the second group had accessions acquired from the
north. Thus indicates that there was a clear delineation between the origin of the accessions and
proximity of their relationship in the dendrogram. As a spin out of the “pedigree” research of
“Cynthiana” var. the comprehensive germplasm collection of Aestivales, Planshon native grapes
was established and was used as genetic pool for further directed hybridizations. More than 100
of the new selections were planted and are currently under evaluation for desirable quality
characteristics.
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