ROMANIAN BIOTECHNOLOGICAL LETTERS, cilt.13, sa.6, ss.4054-4065, 2008 (SCI-Expanded)
Myrtle, Myrtus communis L., is one of the most important and widespread shrubs (maquis) throughout the Mediterranean region. Its fruits ripen during the period of mid-fall to early winter and are generally dark-colored although while-colored wild forms rarely exist. In Turkey, both forms are present in addition to a while and large-fruited type, cultivated in small orchards and marketed locally. We studied two sets of myrtle accessions from Hatay, Turkey. Set I consisted of two wild accessions, dark- and white-colored forms, and six cultivated selections, while Set 2 contained three open-pollinated individuals from each accession of Set 1. We evaluated fruit characteristics of including fruit weight, width, length, soluble solids, pH and acidity. The accessions considerably differed in all the traits tested except for soluble solids. We also examined genotypic variation of Sets I and 2 using 26 RAPD primers and analyzed the data by cluster and principle components analyses. The results revealed that although some of the half-sib families (e.g., 8 a, b and c) were grouped based on their maternal parents, no overall pattern was apparent. These results suggest that myrtle pollination appeared to be not restricted to the self-pollination and the cultivated types have a narrow genetic base.