Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

First insight into diversity of leaf color of loquat (Eribotrya) and its potential value on taxonomy

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Leaf morphology is the most intuitive and representative feature that has been applied into field identification and determination of the genetic diversity of loquat germplasms. Using a colorimeter, we analyzed the leaf color traits of 234 loquat accessions in early spring, when four types of leaves (tender leaf on young shoots, mature leaf on autumn shoots, aging leaf on spring shoots and living defoliation) were sampled to measure their front and rear color parameters (L*, a*, b*, C*, H*, E*). Both leaf images and Shannon’s index (I′: 1.76 to 2.00) demonstrate the high diversity of leaf color; Principal Component Analysis shows that a* and b* are mostly significant in cluster analysis. The front and rear color parameters of four types of leaves were respectively clustered, and five dendrograms were selected based on their representative performance on classification. The five-digit search number, which indicates the main cluster of the five dendrograms for each germplasm, and grandient color blocks, which describe the color range of each main cluster, contribute to establishing a taxonomy index. Results demonstrate that loquat leaf color traits not only help to classify the ten species, which fit the Eriobotrya botanical classification and discriminate several landraces and regional resources, but also speed up the classification process and make it intuitive and efficient.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Badenes ML, Martínez-Calvo J, Llácer G (2000) Analysis of a germplasm collection of loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.). Euphytica 114:187–194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Badenes ML, Canyamás T, Romero C, Soriano JM, Martínez J, Llácer G (2003) Genetic diversity of a European collection of loquat [Eriobotrya japonica (Thumb.) Lindl.] determined by molecular markers. Acta Hortic 620:53–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Badenes ML, Janick J, Lin SQ, Zhang ZK, Liang GL, Wang W (2013) Breeding loquat. Plant Breed Rev 37:259–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bertamini M, Nedunchezhian N (2002) Leaf age effects on chlorophyll, rubisco, photosynthetic electron transport activities and thylakoid membrane protein in field grown grapevine leaves. J Plant Physiol 159(7):799–803

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cai LH, Li ZZ, Huang HW, Zhang WC (2005) Genotype fingerprint of loquat cultivars and allozymic variation in Eriobotrya. J Wuhan Bot Res 23:406–416

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chalak L, Noun A, Youssef H, Hamadeh B (2014) Diversity of loquats (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) cultivated in Lebanon as assessed by morphological traits[J]. Sci Hortic 167(167):135–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen YT, Lai ZX, Guo ZX, Cai YQ, Chen JY, Lu XM, Wu JS (2003) RAPD analysis of main species and cultivars in Eriobotrya. Acta Agric Univ Jiangxiensis 25:258–261

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen XP, Jiang JM, Deng CJ, Lin QH, Zhang SM, Xu QZ, Zheng SQ (2009) Diversity analysis of the leaf characters of loquat wild germplasm resources from Yunnan Province. Fujian Fruit 2:59–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen XP, Huang AP, Jiang JM, Lin QH, Wei XQ, Zhang XY, Xu QZ, Zheng SQ (2010) Diversity analysis on the flower cluster characters of four Eriobotrya plants. J Plant Genet Resour 11:709–714

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen XP, Huang AP, Jiang JM, Zheng SQ, Deng CJ, Wei XQ, Hu WS, Jiang F (2011) Numerical classification of the loquat germplasm. Acta Hortic Sin 38:644–656

    Google Scholar 

  • Deng CJ, Chen ZF, Zhang XY, Zhang LJ, Xie LX, Zheng S, Zhang XJ, Lin QH, Wei XQ, Xu QZ, Chen XM, Zheng SQ (2009) Diversity analysis of fruit description characteristics of loquat germplasm resources. Fujian Fruits 2:42–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Feng JJ, Liu Q, Wang XD, Chen JW, Ye JD (2007) Characterization of a new loquat cultivar ‘Ninghaibai’. Acta Hortic Sin 750:117–124

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gisbert AD, Martínez-Calvo J, Llácer G, Badenes ML, Romero C (2009) Development of two loquat [Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl.] linkage maps based on AFLPs and SSR markers from different Rosaceae species. Mol Breed 23:523–538

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gu C, Spongberg SA (2003) Flora of China. China Science Press, Beijing, pp 173–179

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamada A, Yoshioka S, Takuma D, Yokota J, Cui T, Kusunose M, Miyamura M, Kyotani S, Nishioka Y (2004) The effect of Eriobotrya japonica seed extract on oxidative stress in adriamycin-induced nephropathy in rats. Biol Pharm Bull 27:1961–1964

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • He Q, Li XW, Liang GL, Ji K, Guo QG, Yuan WM, Zhou GZ, Chen KS, Weg WE, Gao ZS (2011) Genetic diversity and identity of Chinese loquat cultivars/accessions (Eriobotrya japonica) using apple SSR Markers. Plant Mol Biol Rep 29:197–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu WS, Chen XP, Li T, Zhang SM, Lin QH, Deng CJ, Zheng SQ (2009) Study of the numerical taxonomy for the germplasm collection of wild loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) in Yunnan Province. J Fruit Sci 26:403–408

    Google Scholar 

  • Hu WS, Li T, Zheng S, Jiang JM, Huang AP, Zhang XJ, Zheng SQ, Chen L (2010) Genetic diversity and relationship analysis of 43 wild loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) germplasm in Yunnan. Fujian Fruits 4:20–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang AP, Chen XP, Luo JF, Wei XQ, Zheng S, Zhang XJ, Zhang XJ, Xu QZ, Chen XM, Zheng SQ (2010) Inflorescence trait observation of a germplasm collection of wild loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) in Yunnan and Guizhou. Fujian Fruits 1:14–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Janick J (2007) Genetic alteration associated with fruit domestication. Acta Hortic 750:27–35

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang F, Huang AP, Chen ZF, Deng CJ, Chen XM, Chen XP, Zhang XY, Zhang LJ, Zheng SQ (2009) Study on the seed traits in loquat (Eriobotrya Japonica Lindl.) germplasm resource. Fujian fruits 4:19–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiang JM, Jiang F, Chen XP, Hu WS, Deng CJ, Zheng SQ (2013) Studies on several quality evaluation indices from loquat germplasm resources. Acta Hortic Sin 40:2382–2390

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang JM, Chen XP, Hu WS, Jiang F, Deng CJ, Zheng SQ (2015) Characteristics of components and contents of soluble sugars in mature fruits of loquat germplasm. Acta Hortic Sin 42:1781–1788

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang F, Zhou DR, Gao HY, Chen XP, Zheng SQ (2016a) Analysis and evaluation of flavonoid content in flowers of loquat (Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl.) germplasm resources. J Plant Genet Resour 17:1031–1035

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiang F, Deng CJ, Chen XP, Zheng SQ (2016b) Studies on composition and acute toxicity test of loquat flower tea. Southeast Hortic 4:5–7

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiang F, Gao HY, Chen XP, Zheng SQ (2016c) Analysis and evaluation of triterpenoids in loquat flowers. J Trop Subtrop Bot 24:233–240

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Leguizamón JE, Badenes ML (2013) Multivariate analysis as a tool for germplasm studies, example of analysis of germplasm loquat data. Acta Hortic 606:29–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Li P, Lin SQ, Yang XH, Hu GB, Jiang YM (2009) Molecular phylogeny of Eriobotrya Lindl. (loquat) inferred from internal transcribed spacer sequences of nuclear ribosome. Pak J Bot 41:185–193

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li GF, Liang GL, Lin SQ (2013) A study on karyotype analysis of gensus Eriobotrya and its application to systematic taxonomy. Acta Hortic Sin 40:1465–1474

    Google Scholar 

  • Li XY, Xu HX, Feng JJ, Chen JW (2015) Mining of genic SNPs and diversity valuatioen of landraces in loquat. Sci Hortic 195:82–88

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lin SQ (2007) World loquat production and research with special reference to China. Acta Hortic Sin 750:37–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin SQ, Hu YL (2000) The species Eribotrya Lindl. and the name for Eriobotrya hookeriana Decne in Chinese. J Fruit Sci 17:300–304

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin SQ, Sharpe RH, Janick J (1999) Loquat: botany and horticulture. Hortic Rev 23:233–272

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin QH, Xu QZ, Zheng S, Zhang XJ, Zheng SQ (2009) Analysis on the diversity and correlation of fruit bearing in loquat germplasm resources. Fujian Fruits 1:4–10

    Google Scholar 

  • Lu XM, Chen JY, Zhang LM, Zheng SQ, Yu D, Liao RY (2002) Observation and comparison on pollen morphology of a new hybrid loquat variety ‘Zaozhong 6’ and its parents. Acta Hortic Sin 29:271–273

    Google Scholar 

  • Martínez-Calvo J, Gisbert AD, Alamar MC, Hernandorena R, Romero C, Llácer G, Badenes ML (2008) Study of a germplasm collection of loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) by multivariate analysis. Genet Resour Crop Evol 55:695–703

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pan RC (2004) Plant Physiology, 7th edn. Higher Education Press, Beijing, p 90

    Google Scholar 

  • Qiao YC, Lin SQ, Liu CM, Yang XH (2008) Optimization of SRAP analysis and its application in germplasm research of Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica). J Fruit Sci 25:348–352

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Qiu WL, Zhang HZ (1996) Fruit flora of China (longan and loquat). China Forestry Press, Beijing, pp 91–259

    Google Scholar 

  • R core team (2016) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation of Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. https://www.r-project.org/

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanghyun K, Taeyong S (2009) Anti-inflammatory effect of leaves of Eriobotrya japonica correlating with attenuation of p38 MAPK ERK, and NF-kappaB activation in mast cells. Toxicol in Vitro 23:1215–1219

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shannon CE (1948) A mathematical theory of communication. Bell Syst Tech J 27:379–423

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shannon CE, Weaver W (1949) The mathematical theory of communication. University of Illinois Press, Urbana

    Google Scholar 

  • Soriano JM, Romero C, Vilanova S, Llácer G, Badenes ML (2005) Genetic diversity of loquat germplasm (Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl.) assessed by SSR markers. Genome 48:108–114

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Spellerberg IF, Fedor PJ (2003) A tribute to Claude Shannon (1916-2001) and a plea for more rigorous use of species richness, species diversity and the ‘Shannon–Wiener’ index. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 12:177–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun G, Liu Y, Zhu J, Yoshioka S, Miyamura M, Kyotani S (2010) Immunomodulatory effect of Eriobotrya japonica seed extract on allergic dermatitis rats. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo) 56:145–149

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vilanova S, Badenes ML, Martínez-Calvo J, Llácer G (2001) Analysis of loquat germplasm (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) by RAPD molecular markers. Euphytica 121:25–29

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Watanabe M, Yamamoto T, Ohara M, Nishitani C, Yahata S (2008) Cultivar differentiation identified by SSR markers and the application for polyploidy loquat plants. J Jpn Soc Hortic Sci 77:388–394

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wickhan H (2009) ggplot2: elegant graphics for data analysis. Springer, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Xie LX, Zhang XY, Zhang LJ, Zheng S, Zhang XJ, Deng CJ, Lin QH, Wei XQ, Xu QZ, Chen XM, Zheng SQ (2009a) Analysis of shoot and leaf characteristics of loquat germplasm resources. Fujian Fruits 2:25–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Xie LX, Zhang LJ, Chen XP, Zhang XY, Zheng SQ (2009b) Classification criteria of some quantitative characteristics of loquat germplasm resources. Fujian Fruits 1:19–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang XH, Lin SQ (2007) New ideas on the classification of loquat. South China Fruits 36:28–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang XH, Liu CM, Lin SQ (2007) The Genetic relationship among common loquat, Daduhe loquat and Oakleaf loquat, according to RAPD and AFLP analysis. Subtrop Plant Sci 36:9–12

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yang XH, Wu YX, Lin SQ (2009) SEM observation on the pollen morphology of six Eriobotrya plants. J Fruit Sci 26:572–576

    Google Scholar 

  • Yu DJ (1979) Chinese fruit taxonomy. China Agriculture Press, Beijing, pp 309–315

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang HZ, Peng SA, Cai LH, Fang DQ (1990) The germplasm resources of the genus Eriobotrya with special reference on the origin of E. japonica Lg. Acta Hortic Sin 17:5–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang LJ, Xie LX, Chen XP, Zheng S, Hu WS, Zhang XY, Deng CJ, Jiang F, Wei XQ, Xu QZ, Zhang XJ, Lin QH, Chen XM, Zheng SQ (2009a) Variation and correlation of some fruit characters of loquat germplasm resources. Fujian Fruits 2:31–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang XJ, Zheng S, Wei XQ, Zhang LJ, Zhang XY, Xie LX, Deng CJ, Chen XP, Huang AP, Xu QZ, Zheng SQ (2009b) Study on the variability of fruit weight in loquat germplasm resources. Fujian Fruits 4:25–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang XJ, Zheng S, Zhang XY, Huang AP, Lin QH, Zhang LJ, Wei XQ, Xie LX, Deng CJ, Xu QZ, Zheng SQ (2009c) Research on fruit cluster and fruit external properties of loquat germplasm resources. Fujian Fruits 2:63–67

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang XY, Xu QZ, Li T, Zheng SQ (2011) Preliminary investigation and evaluation on fruit resistance of loquat germplasm resources. Fujian Fruits 1:11–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang XJ, Jiang JM, Deng CJ, Chen XP, Xu QZ, Zheng SQ (2013) The content and composition of amino acids in 31 Loquat germplasms. Chin J Trop Crops 34:2090–2096

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao GJ, Yang ZQ, Chen XP, Guo YH (2011) Genetic relationships among loquat cultivars and some wild species of the genus Eriobotrya based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences. Sci Hortic 130:913–918

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zheng SQ (2007) Achievement and prospect of loquat breeding in China. Proceedings of the second international symposium on loquat. Acta Hortic Sin 750:85–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work has been founded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31570679), the Tropical Crop Germplasm Resources Protection Project of Chinese Ministry of Agriculture (15RZZY-15), Species Resources Protection Project of Chinese Ministry of Agriculture (2015NWB008), the Science Technology Department of Zhejiang Province (No. 2016C02052-3), and the Team-building Project of Scientific and Technological Innovation of Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences (STIT2017-1-4).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Youxia Shan and Chaojun Deng are contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fruit Research Institute, Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Fuzhou, 318020, China

    Youxia Shan, Chaojun Deng, Wenshun Hu, Xiuping Chen & Shaoquan Zheng

  2. The Key Laboratory for Quality Improvement of Agricultural Products of Zhejiang Province, School of Agriculture and Food Science, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, 311300, China

    Youxia Shan & Qiaoping Qin

  3. Fruit Breeding Engineering Technology Research Center for Longan & Loquat, Fuzhou, 318020, China

    Chaojun Deng, Wenshun Hu, Xiuping Chen & Shaoquan Zheng

  4. Institute of Horticulture, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, 310021, China

    Junwei Chen

Authors
  1. Youxia Shan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Chaojun Deng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Wenshun Hu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Junwei Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Xiuping Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Shaoquan Zheng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Qiaoping Qin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Shaoquan Zheng or Qiaoping Qin.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Fig. S1

The unselected dendrograms in this study for loquat classification. Dendrogram of : a) YSr; b) ASf; c) SSf (TIFF 1166 kb)

Table S1

Information of the 234 loquat accessions sampled in this study: country, origin, and germplasm type (DOCX 114 kb)

Table S2

Loquat accessions contained in each main cluster of the five dendrograms (DOCX 117 kb)

Table S3

Key to Eriobotrya based on the leaf color morphology (DOCX 49 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Shan, Y., Deng, C., Hu, W. et al. First insight into diversity of leaf color of loquat (Eribotrya) and its potential value on taxonomy. Genet Resour Crop Evol 66, 143–163 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-018-0702-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-018-0702-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation