Genetic Assessment of Citrus Collection Reveals Close Relations

The USDA Agricultural Research Service's National Clonal Germplasm Repository for Citrus and Dates has nearly 1,000 citrus accessions in its collection. Scientist recently assessed the genetic makeup of the collection, using molecular markers. Researchers found that most of the genetic diversity was found in a small percentage of the collection, indicating the likelihood that many of the citrus varieties are hybrids of a few wild types.

Citrus hybridizes readily and given its long history of cultivation by humans, it is likely that selective breeding produced many new strains.

Links:

• From a Few Wild Ancestors, a Citrus Cornucopia from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the USDA


• A Citrus Mystery: Who’s Who in the Nation’s Largest Citrus Collection? from ARS, republished from Agricultural Research Magazine

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:45 PM on June 14, 2005

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