Whole mitochondrial and plastid genome SNP analysis of nine date palm cultivars reveals plastid heteroplasmy and close phylogenetic relationships among cultivars.

ABSTRACT: Date palm is a very important crop in western Asia and northern Africa, and it is the oldest domesticated fruit tree with archaeological records dating back 5000 years. The huge economic value of this crop has generated considerable interest in breeding programs to enhance production of dates. One of the major limitations of these efforts is the uncertainty regarding the number of date palm cultivars, which are currently based on fruit shape, size, color, and taste. Whole mitochondrial and plastid genome sequences were utilized to examine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of date palms to evaluate the efficacy of this approach for molecular characterization of cultivars. Mitochondrial and plastid genomes of nine Saudi Arabian cultivars were sequenced. For each species about 60 million

SUBMITTER: Sabir JS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3981771 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature