Genetic bases of almond quality

• Autor(a) principal: Paulo de Almeida, Gonçalo
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/163266
• topic: Almond kernel; fruit development; gene expression; Prunus dulcis; Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Naturais

"Almond is one of the most important tree nut crops, due to its high nutritive value, namely in lipids and tocopherol. Its production in Portugal has been increasing during the last years, with implementation of new orchards with commercial cultivars. Tocopherol is an antioxidant that prevents unsaturated fatty acids from peroxidation, increasing almond storage-life and it is highly effective preventing cardiovascular diseases. Genes involved in its biosynthesis have been characterized in other species, but no studies have been made in almond trees. The almond cultivar ‘Soleta’ was used for kernel developmental study and the cultivars ‘Gama’, ‘Rogel’, ‘João Dias’, ‘Fura Sacos’, ‘Bonita de S.Brás’ and ‘Verdeal’ were used for the ripe fruit analysis. Fruit was morphologically characterized throughout the development (‘Soleta’) and in the ripe fruit. The tocopherol profile was analyzed and quantified by HPLC and the differential expression level of candidate genes involved in tocopherol synthesis (VTE1, VTE2 and VTE4) was characterized using RT-qPCR.(...)"