Open Access

ARTICLE

Cladistics of Mexican nopal genotypes (Opuntia spp.) based on AFLP markers and fruit characters

Espinoza Sánchez EA¹, H Silos Espino¹, S Flores Benitez¹, LL Valera Montero¹, E Rodríguez Salazar², C Gallegos Vázquez³, F Guevara Lara⁴, M González Chavira⁵, HS Guzmán Maldonado⁵

1 Laboratorio de Biotecnología Aplicada, Instituto Tecnológico El Llano, Aguascalientes, Km 18 carretera Aguascalientes-San Luis Potosí, México, C.P. 20330.
2 Centro de Bachillerato Tecnológico Agropecuario No. 138, Km 1, carretera Villa Hidalgo-Pinos, Zacatecas, México, C.P. 98980.
3 Depositario Nacional de Opuntia, Centro Regional Universitario Centro Norte de la Universidad Autónoma de Chapingo. Cruz del Sur # 100, Colonia Constelación, El Orito, Zacatecas, México C.P. 98085.
4 Laboratorio de Biotecnología y Funcionalidad de Alimentos, Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, Av. Universidad No. 940, Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes., México, C.P. 20100.
5 Campo Experimental Bajío, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias, Km 6.5, Carretera Celaya-San Miguel de Allende, Roque, Celaya Guanajuato. México, C.P. 38110.

* Corresponding Author:Address Correspondence to: Héctor Silos Espino, e-mail:

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2014, 83(all), 299-306. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2014.83.299

Abstract

Dendrograms were constructed based on AFLP markers and a table was used to group fruit characters of wild and cultivated genotypes of Mexican nopal (Opuntia spp.). The AFLP dendrogram obtained using ≈57.5 markers (from primers Mse I-CAC/Eco RI-AAG) did not agree with the known taxonomic classification for this species. Additionally, a complementary table for fruit characters (morphological and °Brix) showed a wide range for wild genotypes, e.g. from 21-22 °Brix for ‘Tapón Blanco’ and ‘Guilanche’ genotypes, to 5.0-8.2 °Brix for xoconostles (acidic fruits). Even though there were some divergences with taxonomic classification, it is expected that both genetic and physicochemical information would contribute to a more appropriate identification of Opuntia genotypes that, in turn, may be used in breeding programs of this genus.

---

Keywords

---