Genetic diversity in wild species and cultivars of strawberry for the FanAAMT gene controlling fruit flavor volatiles

Background. An important consumer trait of strawberry fruits is their aroma. Methyl anthranilate makes a considerable contribution to the fruit flavor. The methyl anthranilate content in strawberry fruits is controlled by the FanAAMT (аnthranilic acid methyltransferase) gene. Identification of genetic determinants for this trait facilitates targeted selection of promising forms based on diagnostic DNA markers. The purpose of this study was to study the allelic diversity of the FanAAMT fruit flavor gene in wild strawberry species and strawberry cultivars for identification of promising genotypes.
Materials and methods. The objects of this study were wild species of Fragaria L. as well as F. × anaschata Kantor. and F. × ananassa Duch. cultivars of different ecogeographic origin. The FanAAMT gene was identified with the dominant marker FanAAMT.
Results and conclusion. In the analyzed collection of strawberry genotypes, the FanAAMT gene was identified in 36.4% of the forms, including the wild species F. vesca L., F. moschata Duch. and F. virginiana subsp. platypetala (Rydb.) Staudt, and cv. ‘Kupchikha’ (F. × anaschata). Among the analyzed F. × ananassa cultivars, the FanAAMT gene was found in 31.6% of the tested forms, specifically in 27.3% of the 22 Russian cultivars, and 37.5% of the analyzed foreign ones. Promising sources of high methyl anthranilate content in fruits were identified: wild spp. F. moschata, F. vesca, and F. virginiana subsp. platypetala; cv. ‘Kupchikha’ (F. × anaschata); Russian garden strawberry cvs. ‘Bylinnaya’, ‘Zenit’, ‘Lastochka’, ‘Neznakomka’, ‘Feyerverk’ and ‘Tsarskoselskaya’; and foreign garden strawberry cvs. ‘Karmen’, ‘Ostara’, ‘Samson’, ‘Symphony’, ‘Troubadour’ and ‘Vima Tarda’, in which the functional allele of the FanAAMT gene was found. In the remaining studied strawberry genotypes the marker FanAAMT was not detected, which presumably indicates that the FanAAMT gene is absent. cells (R9.4.1).

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