Open AccessGenotyping-by-sequencing identifies date palm clone preference in agronomics of the State of Qatar
Author(s) -
Gaurav Thareja,
Sweety Mathew,
Lisa Sara Mathew,
Yasmin A. Mohamoud,
Karsten Suhre,
Joël Malek
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0207299
Subject(s) - phoenix dactylifera , palm , genetic diversity , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , crop , cultivar , agroforestry , population , microsatellite , arecaceae , botany , agronomy , genetics , gene , allele , medicine , physics , environmental health , quantum mechanics
Understanding the genetic diversity in a crop population is key to its targeted breeding for desired traits, such as higher yields, better fruit quality and resistance to disease and changing climates. Date fruits represent a major crop in the Middle East and are key to achieving future food independence in arid countries like Qatar. We previously determined the genome of the date palm Phoenix dactylifera and showed that date palm trees world-wide divide into two distinct subpopulations of Eastern and Western origins. Here we applied a resource of SNPs from 179 commercially available date fruits to assess the genetic diversity of date palm trees grown in the State of Qatar. We found that palm trees in Qatar are mainly of Eastern origin, and that their genetic diversity doesn’t associate with regions of the State. Together with targeted genetic assays, our resource can be used in the future for date palm cultivar identification, to aid selecting suitable cultivars for targeted breeding, to improve a country’s date palm genetic diversity, and to certify the origin of date fruits and trees.