Investigation of phenotypic and genetic diversity of kolomikta Kiwi (Actinidia kolomikta)

Abstract

Actinidia kolomikta Maxim. possesses exceptionally decorative properties and produces valuable berries. 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 Vytautas Magnus University. Variegation intensity of leaves as well as berry size and shape were defined as the most informative for phenotypic characterization of cultivars and clones. Female cultivars differed in the total number of fruiting shoots per m length of two-year-old shoots. DNA investigations using RAPD markers 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 was obtained for the female clones F2 and F4 (GDxy=0.059). Two specific markers were identified with the primers OPC-02 and 2B for the cultivar ‘Laiba’ and the female clone F4M4. Accessions were grouped on a dendrogram using the UPGMA (unweighted pair-group method of arithmetic averages) method and revealed two main clusters. ‘Laiba’ proved to be the most divergent cultivar and was joined to the other accessions at the genetic distance of 0.824.