Aronia mitschurinii: Solving a Horticultural Enigma

<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^th 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>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Plant Science

Year dc:date.available

2011

Author dc:creator

• Leonard, Peter J

Contributors dc:contributor

• Jessica Lubell; Julia Kuzovkina
• Mark H Brand

• Aronia
• chokeberry
• Aronia melanocarpa
• Aronia mitschurinii
• Sorbaronia
• plant breeding
• AFLP

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/gs_theses/183

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu:gs_theses-1198