Investigation of Kolomikta kiwi (Actinidia kolomikta) phenotypic and genetic diversity

Abstract

Actinidia kolomikta Maxim. has been gradually introduced into culture in Lithuania, along with successive assessment of its possibilities to adapt to the country’s climatic conditions. A. kolomikta possesses exceptionally decorative properties and produces valuable berries. Therefore it may supplement the assortment of berry plants. The aim of this study was to distinguish the informative phenotypic characteristics and to evaluate genetic diversity of A. kolomikta germplasm collection at Kaunas Botanical Garden of the Vytautas Magnus University. The following traits were the most informative for phenotypic characterization of cultivars and clones: variegation intensity of leaves, size and distribution of flowers as well as berry size and shape. Female cultivars differed in the total number of fruiting shoots per meter length of two-year-old shoots. DNA investigations by RAPD method defined significant genetic diversity of A. kolomikta accessions and the level of their relationship. The percentage of polymorphism ranged from 55.6 to 80.0%. The highest genetic identity have been established for the female clones F2 and F4 (GDxy=0.059 and for the male clone M1 and female clone F2M2 (GDxy=0.094). Two specific markers were identified with the primers OPC-02 and 2B for the cultivar Laiba and the female clone F4M4. The dendrogram grouped the accessions by UPGMA method and revealed two main clusters. ‘Laiba’ proved to be the most divergent cultivar and joined to the other accessions at the 0.824 genetic distance.