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Phenotypic Variations in the Foliar Chemical Profile of Persea americana Mill . cv. Hass
Author(s) -
GarcíaRodríguez Yolanda Magdalena,
TorresGurrola Guadalupe,
MeléndezGonzález Claudio,
EspinosaGarcía Francisco J.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
chemistry and biodiversity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.427
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1612-1880
pISSN - 1612-1872
DOI - 10.1002/cbdv.201600169
Subject(s) - persea , mill , phenotype , botany , horticulture , chemistry , biology , genetics , gene
The Hass avocado tree Persea americana cv. Hass was derived from a single hybrid tree of P . americana var. drymifolia and P. americana var. guatemalensis, and it is propagated clonally by grafting. This cultivar is the most widely planted in the world but its profile of secondary metabolites has been studied rarely despite of its importance in plant protection. We illustrate the variability of the volatilome of mature leaves by describing the average chemical composition and the phenotypic variability found in 70 trees. Contrary to the uniformity expected in the Hass cultivar, high variability coefficients were found for most of the 36 detected foliar volatile compounds; furthermore we found six chemotypes grouping the foliar phenotypes of the sampled trees using hierarchical cluster analysis. About 48% of trees were grouped in one chemotype; five chemotypes grouped the remaining trees. The compounds that determined these chemotypes were: estragole, α ‐farnesene, β ‐caryophyllene, germacrene D, α ‐cubebene and eugenol. This striking variation in a cultivar propagated clonally is discussed in terms of somatic mutation.