Aronia (Medik.), commonly known as chokeberry, is a taxonomically misunderstood genus currently experiencing a renaissance in North America as both an ornamental and fruit crop. Three species of chokeberry are commonly accepted as native in North America: A. arbutifolia (L.) Pers. red chokeberry; A. melanocarpa (Michx.) Elliot, black chokeberry; and A. prunifolia (Marshall) Rehder, or purple chokeberry. In Europe a fourth species of human origin is recognized as Aronia mitschurinii (A.K.Skvortsov & Maitul.), or cultivated, black-fruited Aronia. It is widely speculated that this genotype originated in the early 20th century with Russian pomologist Ivan Michurin, as the product of his experiments in wide hybridizations. In my research I attempt to determine the feasibility of this hypothesis by exploring Aronia’s crossing capabilities and testing the relationships of A. mitschurinii to wild Aronia species and several other Pyrinae genera using amplified fragment length polymorphic (AFLP) analysis. Successful seed formation was achieved between maternal diploid A. melanocarpa and Malus domestica, Photinia serrulata, Sorbus, and ×Sorbaronia. Clustering of AFLP similarity data using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) identified A. mitschurinii as distinct from wild Aronia spp., placing it on a branch with ×Sorbaronia fallax and ×Sorbaronia ‘Ivan’s Beauty’. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) clustered A. mitschurinii apart from wild Aronia spp., and demonstrated a relationship between Sorbus aucuparia, ×Sorbaronia fallax, and Aronia. Bayesian analysis revealed A. mitschurinii to possess genetic influence from the genus Sorbus subgenus Sorbus.
","abstract_html":"<p><em>Aronia </em>(Medik.), commonly known as chokeberry, is a taxonomically misunderstood genus currently experiencing a renaissance in North America as both an ornamental and fruit crop. Three species of chokeberry are commonly accepted as native in North America: <em>A. arbutifolia</em> (L.) Pers.<em> </em>red chokeberry; <em>A. melanocarpa </em>(Michx.) Elliot, black chokeberry;<em> </em>and<em> A. prunifolia </em>(Marshall) Rehder, or purple chokeberry. In Europe a fourth species of human origin is recognized as <em>Aronia mitschurinii </em>(A.K.Skvortsov & Maitul.), or cultivated, black-fruited <em>Aronia</em>. It is widely speculated that this genotype originated in the early 20<sup>th</sup> century with Russian pomologist Ivan Michurin, as the product of his experiments in wide hybridizations. In my research I attempt to determine the feasibility of this hypothesis by exploring <em>Aronia</em>’s crossing capabilities and testing the relationships of <em>A. mitschurinii</em> to wild <em>Aronia </em>species and several other Pyrinae genera using amplified fragment length polymorphic (AFLP) analysis. Successful seed formation was achieved between maternal diploid <em>A. melanocarpa </em>and <em>Malus domestica</em>, <em>Photinia serrulata</em>, <em>Sorbus</em>, and ×<em>Sorbaronia</em>. Clustering of AFLP similarity data using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) identified <em>A. mitschurinii </em>as distinct from wild <em>Aronia</em> spp., placing it on a branch with ×<em>Sorbaronia fallax </em>and ×<em>Sorbaronia </em>‘Ivan’s Beauty’. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) clustered <em>A. mitschurinii</em> apart from wild <em>Aronia </em>spp., and demonstrated a relationship between <em>Sorbus aucuparia</em>, ×<em>Sorbaronia fallax</em>, and <em>Aronia</em>. Bayesian analysis revealed <em>A. mitschurinii</em> to possess genetic influence from the genus <em>Sorbus</em> subgenus <em>Sorbus</em>.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Leonard, Peter J"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Plant Science","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Jessica Lubell; Julia Kuzovkina","Mark H Brand"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011-08-24T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2011-08-24T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:31:45Z","subjects":["Aronia","chokeberry","Aronia melanocarpa","Aronia mitschurinii","Sorbaronia","plant breeding","AFLP"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/gs_theses/183","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Jessica Lubell; Julia Kuzovkina","Mark H Brand"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Leonard, Peter J"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2011-09-02T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Plant Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Aronia","chokeberry","Aronia melanocarpa","Aronia mitschurinii","Sorbaronia","plant breeding","AFLP"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/gs_theses/183"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Aronia (Medik.), commonly known as chokeberry, is a taxonomically misunderstood genus currently experiencing a renaissance in North America as both an ornamental and fruit crop. Three species of chokeberry are commonly accepted as native in North America: A. arbutifolia (L.) Pers. red chokeberry; A. melanocarpa (Michx.) Elliot, black chokeberry; and A. prunifolia (Marshall) Rehder, or purple chokeberry. In Europe a fourth species of human origin is recognized as Aronia mitschurinii (A.K.Skvortsov & Maitul.), or cultivated, black-fruited Aronia. It is widely speculated that this genotype originated in the early 20th century with Russian pomologist Ivan Michurin, as the product of his experiments in wide hybridizations. In my research I attempt to determine the feasibility of this hypothesis by exploring Aronia’s crossing capabilities and testing the relationships of A. mitschurinii to wild Aronia species and several other Pyrinae genera using amplified fragment length polymorphic (AFLP) analysis. Successful seed formation was achieved between maternal diploid A. melanocarpa and Malus domestica, Photinia serrulata, Sorbus, and ×Sorbaronia. Clustering of AFLP similarity data using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) identified A. mitschurinii as distinct from wild Aronia spp., placing it on a branch with ×Sorbaronia fallax and ×Sorbaronia ‘Ivan’s Beauty’. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) clustered A. mitschurinii apart from wild Aronia spp., and demonstrated a relationship between Sorbus aucuparia, ×Sorbaronia fallax, and Aronia. Bayesian analysis revealed A. mitschurinii to possess genetic influence from the genus Sorbus subgenus Sorbus.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Aronia mitschurinii: Solving a Horticultural Enigma"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Jessica Lubell; Julia Kuzovkina","Mark H Brand"],"dc:creator":["Leonard, Peter J"],"dc:date.available":["2011-09-02T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Aronia (Medik.), commonly known as chokeberry, is a taxonomically misunderstood genus currently experiencing a renaissance in North America as both an ornamental and fruit crop. Three species of chokeberry are commonly accepted as native in North America: A. arbutifolia (L.) Pers. red chokeberry; A. melanocarpa (Michx.) Elliot, black chokeberry; and A. prunifolia (Marshall) Rehder, or purple chokeberry. In Europe a fourth species of human origin is recognized as Aronia mitschurinii (A.K.Skvortsov & Maitul.), or cultivated, black-fruited Aronia. It is widely speculated that this genotype originated in the early 20th century with Russian pomologist Ivan Michurin, as the product of his experiments in wide hybridizations. In my research I attempt to determine the feasibility of this hypothesis by exploring Aronia’s crossing capabilities and testing the relationships of A. mitschurinii to wild Aronia species and several other Pyrinae genera using amplified fragment length polymorphic (AFLP) analysis. Successful seed formation was achieved between maternal diploid A. melanocarpa and Malus domestica, Photinia serrulata, Sorbus, and ×Sorbaronia. Clustering of AFLP similarity data using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) identified A. mitschurinii as distinct from wild Aronia spp., placing it on a branch with ×Sorbaronia fallax and ×Sorbaronia ‘Ivan’s Beauty’. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) clustered A. mitschurinii apart from wild Aronia spp., and demonstrated a relationship between Sorbus aucuparia, ×Sorbaronia fallax, and Aronia. Bayesian analysis revealed A. mitschurinii to possess genetic influence from the genus Sorbus subgenus Sorbus.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/gs_theses/183"],"dc:subject":["Aronia","chokeberry","Aronia melanocarpa","Aronia mitschurinii","Sorbaronia","plant breeding","AFLP"],"dc:title":["Aronia mitschurinii: Solving a Horticultural Enigma"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Plant Science"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:31:45Z"}