Bielsa Francisco Javier, Errea Pilar, Iturmendi Nerea, Irisarri Patricia, Navarro Montserrat, Castel Lourdes, Urrestarazu Jorge, Santesteban Luis Gonzaga, Miranda Carlos, Pina Ana
Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria de Aragón (CITA), Departamento de Ciencia Vegetal, Zaragoza, Spain.
Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón-IA2, CITA-Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.
Front Plant Sci. 2025 Sep 16;16:1623195. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1623195. eCollection 2025.
is a key temperate fruit crop globally, but climate change and market demands highlight the need to broaden its narrow genetic base. The collection and conservation of local germplasms support breeding efforts by enabling the development of resilient phenotypes with improved traits. Under this framework, a set of 130 apple accessions (recovered from Northeastern Spain and 14 commercial cultivars were analyzed in terms of 12 phenotypic traits (firmness, SSC, malic acid, enzymatic browning (EB) susceptibility, fructose and glucose content, and phenolic content in peel and pulp). A statistical framework was developed to assess trait stability under shifting climatic conditions and detect significant correlations between climatic variables and phenotypical performance of apple trees. The results revealed a wide phenotypical variation across the studied traits, with the distribution of physicochemical traits strongly influenced in a genotype-dependent manner. A correlation matrix was obtained for studied traits revealing positive correlations between harvest date and SSC, enzymatic browning and firmness. Furthermore, uni- and multifactorial ANOVA revealed that genetic group (GG) is a key factor influencing all measured traits, especially pH, SSC, EB, and browning speed. Several interaction effects were also statistically significant, especially those involving ploidy level, which strongly influenced malic acid content and EB responses. Additionally, significant differences in fructose content were observed depending on peel coloration, and year-to-year phenotypic variation appeared to be predominantly governed by genotypic response to environmental conditions. Moreover, obtention of a mean stability index (D) for each trait allowed the identification of 'Pinova','Fuji' and 'Gala' as the most stable cultivars among 11 commercial cultivars. These findings will support future research on development of functional cultivars and selection of ideal genotypes under shifting conditions.
苹果是全球重要的温带水果作物，但气候变化和市场需求凸显了拓宽其狭窄遗传基础的必要性。收集和保存当地种质资源有助于培育具有改良性状的适应性表型，从而支持育种工作。在此框架下，对130份苹果种质资源（从西班牙东北部收集）和14个商业品种进行了分析，测定了12个表型性状（硬度、可溶性固形物含量、苹果酸、酶促褐变敏感性、果糖和葡萄糖含量以及果皮和果肉中的酚类物质含量）。开发了一个统计框架，以评估在气候变化条件下性状的稳定性，并检测气候变量与苹果树表型表现之间的显著相关性。结果显示，在所研究的性状中存在广泛的表型变异，理化性状的分布受到基因型的强烈影响。研究性状的相关矩阵显示，采收期与可溶性固形物含量、酶促褐变与硬度之间呈正相关。此外，单因素和多因素方差分析表明，遗传组是影响所有测定性状的关键因素，尤其是pH值、可溶性固形物含量、酶促褐变和褐变速度。还发现了几个具有统计学意义的交互作用，特别是涉及倍性水平的交互作用，它对苹果酸含量和酶促褐变反应有强烈影响。此外，根据果皮颜色观察到果糖含量存在显著差异，而且逐年的表型变异似乎主要由基因型对环境条件的反应所决定。此外，通过获得每个性状的平均稳定性指数（D），确定了“皮诺瓦”、“富士”和“嘎啦”是11个商业品种中最稳定的品种。这些发现将为未来功能性品种的开发以及在变化条件下理想基因型的选择研究提供支持。
