AUTHOR=Wen Jun , Herron Sterling A. , Yang Xue , Liu Bin-Bin , Zuo Yun-Juan , Harris AJ , Kalburgi Yash , Johnson Gabriel , Zimmer Elizabeth A. 

TITLE=Nuclear and Chloroplast Sequences Resolve the Enigmatic Origin of the Concord Grape

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2020.00263

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2020.00263

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Despite the commercial importance of the Concord grape, its origin has remained unresolved for over 150 years without a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis. In this study we aimed to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the Concord grape using sequence data from four nuclear markers (<italic>AT103</italic>, <italic>GAI1</italic>, <italic>PHYA</italic>, and <italic>SQD1</italic>), six plastid markers (<italic>matK</italic>, <italic>psbA-trnH</italic>, <italic>petN-trnC</italic>, <italic>ycf1</italic>, <italic>trnL-F</italic>, and <italic>trnS-G</italic>), and the plastid genome. We sampled extensively the <italic>Vitis</italic> species native to northeastern North America as well as representative species from Europe and Asia, including the commercially important <italic>Vitis vinifera</italic> (wine grape), a native European species with hermaphroditic flowers, and its wild progenitor, <italic>V</italic>. <italic>vinifera</italic> subsp. <italic>sylvestris</italic>. We also sequenced the plastid genome of one accession of the Concord grape and compared the plastid genome data to the recently published data set of <italic>Vitis</italic> plastomes. Phylogenetic analyses of the plastid and nuclear data using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference support the hybrid origin of the Concord grape. The results clearly pinpoint the wine grape, <italic>V</italic>. <italic>vinifera</italic>, as the maternal donor and the fox grape, <italic>Vitis labrusca</italic>, which is common in northeastern North America, as the paternal donor. Moreover, we infer that the breeding history of the Concord grape must have involved the backcrossing of the F1 hybrid with the paternal parent <italic>V</italic>. <italic>labrusca</italic>. This backcrossing also explains the higher morphological similarity of the Concord grape to <italic>V</italic>. <italic>labrusca</italic> than to <italic>V</italic>. <italic>vinifera</italic>. This study provides concrete genetic evidence for the hybrid origin of a widespread <italic>Vitis</italic> cultivar and is, therefore, promising for similar future studies focused on resolving ambiguous origins of major crops or to create successful hybrid fruit crops.</p>