Ana Garcés-Claver

Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria de Aragón · Ciencia Vegetal

Melon (Cucumis melo L.), belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family, is an economically important vegetable crop cultivated worldwide and highly valued for its fruit quality. Unfortunately, this crop is affected by several biotic and abiotic stresses that reduce yield and quality considerably. Melon breeding for fruit quality and disease resistance gain...

Powdery mildew caused by Podosphaera xanthii is among the most threatening fungal diseases affecting melons on the Mediterranean coast. Although the use of genetic resistance is a highly recommended alternative to control this pathogen, many races of this fungus have been described and, therefore, resistance is usually overcome; thus, breeding for...

Nineteen Tunisian onion genotypes were characterized based on phytochemical composition, sugar content, and antioxidant activity. The studied onions showed a great diversity on biochemical contents and composition. It seemed that there were differences between genotype categories (local landraces or local breeding lines) and within the same categor...

The preservation of viable pollen is essential to overcome the problems related to the asynchronous flowering of the parental lines in onion hybrid breeding programs. The aim of this study was to establish a simple, inexpensive, and easily reproducible protocol for medium-term onion pollen storage. First, the conditions for assessing the in vitro p...

Breeding for disease resistance has been one of the most important research objectives in melon for the last few decades. Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis (Fom) is among the most threatening melon fungal diseases along the Mediterranean coast, affecting yield and quality. Since genetic resistance is one of the best sustaina...

The assessment of genetic diversity and structure of a gene pool is a prerequisite for efficient organization, conservation, and utilization for crop improvement. This study evaluated the genetic diversity and population structure of 24 Tunisian melon accessions, by using 24 phenotypic traits and eight microsatellite (SSR) markers. A considerable p...

Cucurbita spp. (gourds, squashes, and pumpkins) are important genetic resources to broaden not only the genetic background of the commercially important summer squash types like Zucchini, but also to develop new rootstocks to manage and control soil-borne diseases in other cucurbits like watermelon and melon. The characterization of landraces and w...

Chili pepper (Capsicum spp.) is an important crop, as well as a model for fruit development studies and domestication. Here, we performed a time-course experiment to estimate standardized gene expression profiles with respect to fruit development for six domesticated and four wild chili pepper ancestors. We sampled the transcriptomes every 10 days...

The performance of snake melon [Cucumis melo var. flexuosus (L.)] in organic farming was studied under high biotic and salt stress conditions. Soilborne diseases (mainly caused by Macrophomina phaseolina and Neocosmospora falciformis), combined with virus incidence [Watermelon mosaic virus (WMV), Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV), and Tomato leaf...

Chili pepper ( Capsicum spp.) is both an important crop and a model for domestication studies. Here we performed a time course experiment to estimate standardized gene expression profiles across fruit development for six domesticated and four wild chili pepper ancestors. We sampled the transcriptome every 10 days, from flower to fruit at 60 Days Af...

Peppers are fruits with wide genetic variability and multiple ways of being consumed that hold a relevant position in the human diet. Nowadays, consumers are interested in new gastronomic experiences provided by pepper cultivars that present new shapes, colors, and flavors while preserving their bioactive compounds, such as their capsaicinoids and...

Interest in the consumption of the fruits of pepper (Capsicum spp.) is not only due to its organoleptic characteristics, but also due to its bioactive compounds content, which are reported to provide essential benefits to human health. However, the amount and diversity of these compounds in each fruit specimen depend on its genotype and on a number...

Cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus (CYSDV) is one of the main limiting factors of melon cultivation worldwide. To date, no commercial melon cultivars resistant to CYSDV are available. The African accession TGR-1551 is resistant to CYSDV. Two major quantitative trait loci (QTLs) have been previously reported, both located near each other in chr...

The sexual expression of watermelon plants is the result of the distribution and occurrence of male, female, bisexual and hermaphrodite flowers on the main and secondary stems. Plants can be monoecious (producing male and female flowers), andromonoecious (producing male and hermaphrodite flowers), or partially andromonoecious (producing male, femal...

La fusariosis vascular en sandía es causada por diferentes especies de Fusarium (Fusarium oxysporum, F. solani y F. petroliphilum) y constituye una de las patologías más importantes del cultivo. En este trabajo se presentan dos agentes de biocontrol del género Trichoderma potencialmente eficaces en el control de estos patógenos.

Watermelon and melon crops are affected by some important soil-borne fungal diseases like carbonaceous rot (Macrophomina phaseolina), collapse (Monosporascus cannonballus), or the most important pathology at an economic level, the Fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum, F. oxysporum f. sp. melonis, F. solani f. sp. cucurbitae, Neocosmospor...

El pimiento pertenece a la familia de las Solanáceas y género Capsicum. Existe un gran interés en cuanto al consumo de sus frutos, ya que estos se consideran una rica fuente de compuestos antioxidantes. Estos compuestos tienen cada vez mayor interés ya que juegan un papel importante en la prevención de enfermedades como el cáncer, la anemia, la dia...

“Naga Jolokia” (Capsicum chinense Jacq.) is a hot pepper variety native to India which has received the attention of the global scientific community due to its high capsaicinoid concentration. The present study evaluated the influence of fruit ripening on the total and individual capsaicinoids, as well as capsiate content. The aim was to determine...

Some taxa of the Fusarium solani species complex (FSSC) have been associated with clinical infections in humans and plant diseases. Among the several fusaria that cause relevant mycoses in cucurbits in Spain, Neocosmospora keratoplastica is described for the first time as responsible for wilt and root rot in both watermelon and melon crops in produ...

In Tunisia, watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai] is largely consumed in summer as a fresh fruit. This cucurbit is cultivated in various areas in the country. The landraces are a very important source of genetic diversity, constituting an important genetic resource for plant breeders. The aim of the present study was to collect an...

Quantification, using an accurate analytical approach, of capsinoids and capsaicinoids was performed on three chili pepper (Capsicum spp.) genotypes: ‘Chiltepín’, ‘Tampiqueño 74’, and ‘Bhut Jolokia’ at various stages of fruit development. The accumulation of capsinoids, in all these peppers started between 10 to 20 days post-anthesis (dpa), increas...

In Tunisia, watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai] is largely consumed in summer as a fresh fruit. This cucurbit is cultivated in various areas in the country. The landraces are a very important source of genetic diversity, constituting an important genetic resource for plant breeders. The aim of the present study was to collect an...

The evolution of individual and total capsaicinoids content in three pepper varieties of Capsicum chinense Jacq. (‘Bode’ (B), ‘Habanero’ (H), and ‘Habanero Roxo’ (Hr)) during fruit ripening was studied. The five major capsaicinoids (nordihydrocapsaicin, capsaicin, dihydrocapsaicin, homocapsaicin, and homodihydrocapsaicin) were extracted using ultra...

A highly sensitive, selective method has been developed and validated for determination of capsiate and dihydrocapsiate for the first time using HPLC-ESI/MS(QTOF). For both capsinoids, LODs and LOQs were 0.02 and 0.05 µmol/l, respectively. The intra- and interday repeatability values (RSD %) were 0.26-0.41% for retention time, and 2.25-2.11% for pe...

Fusarium wilt of melon caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. melonis (FOM) is one of the most threatening fungal diseases of melon crops. Four races (0, 1, 2, and 1-2) of the pathogen are defined. Resistance to race 1 and race 2 is conferred by a single dominant gene Fom-2 and Fom-1, respectively. Both genes also confer resistance to race 0. Host-plan...

Watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thumb.)Matsum. and Nakai] crops are affected by several soil-borne fungi as Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum (Fon), Monosporascus cannoballus and Macrophomina phaseolina and more recently, by powdery mildew caused by Podosphaera xanthii which has become a concern among growers. In Spain, little research has been done...

Male flowers in melon are usually found alone or in groups of 1-3 flowers per node. However, Zimbabwean melon line TGR-1551 has been identified to exhibit multiflower male trusses. In a previous study, one major QTL on linkage group 6 associated with the character in a poorly saturated region of a map of a RIL population derived from a cross betwee...

El cultivo de melón en la costa mediterránea es afectado por distintas patologías que reducen considerablemente su producción. Tres de ellas son la fusariosis vascular, causada por el hongo Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. melonis (Fom), el oídio causado por el hongo Podosphaera xanthii y el pulgón Aphis gossypii, vector de importantes virus no persistente...

El ‘Chiltepín’ es un chile muy popular en México por su intenso color rojo y su característico sabor y picor. Este último atributo es debido a la presencia de unos compuestos pertenecientes a las familias de los capsaicinoides y los capsinoides; sus presencias, así como la distinta relación de sus contenidos perfilan un tipo de picor diferencial. A...

Fusarium wilt of melon caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. melonis (FOM) is one of the most threatening fungal diseases of melon crops. Four races (0, 1, 2, and 1-2) of the pathogen are defined. Resistance to race 1 and race 2 is conferred by a single dominant gene Fom-2 and Fom-1, respectively. Both genes also confer resistance to race 0. Host-plan...

Onion (Allium cepa L.) and pepper (Capsicum spp.) have been cultivated for thousands of years due to their medicinal and therapeutic properties. Nowadays, these health-promoting properties have been attributed to the bioactive compounds responsible for the pungency of onion and pepper. The nutraceutical potential showed by cysteine sulfoxides in on...

Capsinoids exhibit health-promoting properties and are therefore compounds of interest for medical and food sciences. They are minor compounds present in relatively high concentrations in only a few number of pepper cultivars. It is desirable to quantify capsinoids to provide selected cultivars with high capsinoid contents, which can then be employ...

Key message: Loci on LGIV, VI, and VIII of melon genome are involved in the control of fruit domestication-related traits and they are candidate to have played a role in the domestication of the crop. The fruit of wild melons is very small (20-50 g) without edible pulp, contrasting with the large size and high pulp content of cultivated melon frui...

A new Rhizoctonia-like fungus associated with ectomycorrhizal tips of evergreen oak inoculated with Tuber melanosporum is described. Tulasnella tubericola sp. nov. is characterized by its particular habitat, apparently not associated with the roots of any orchid species, its fast-growing rate in plate culture, the creamy-white to pale orange tones...

El pimiento (Capsicum spp.) es ampliamente valorado en la gastronomía mundial por sus distintas cualidades de sabor y calidad. Además es considerado una rica fuente de compuestos antioxidantes. Estos compuestos tienen cada vez mayor interés ya que juegan un papel importante en la prevención de enfermedades cardiovasculares y de otras como el cáncer...

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) (Labiatae) is an evergreen, woody shrub natural to the Mediterranean basin, and is widely cultivated for ornamental and medicinal purposes. In winter of 2016, garden beds in a shopping center of Zaragoza (northeast Spain) planted with 6-year-old rosemary plants (both semierect and prostrate cultivars) exhibited...

The ontogenetic variation of total and individual capsaicinoids (nordihydrocapsaicin (n-DHC), capsaicin (C), dihydrocapsaicin (DHC), homocapsaicin (h-C) and homodihydrocapsaicin (h-DHC)) present in Malagueta pepper (Capsicum frutescens) during fruit ripening has been studied. Malagueta peppers were grown in a greenhouse under controlled temperature...

La fusariosis vascular, causada por Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum (Fon), es una de las enfermedades fúngicas más importantes del cultivo de la sandía a nivel mundial. Los bioensayos de inoculación artificial en cultivares de referencia, constituyen el punto de partida, tanto para la identificación de aislados patogénicos problema como para la de...

Se describe una metodología estandarizada para el reconocimiento de fuentes de resistencia naturales a la fusariosis vascular en cultivares de sandía, causada por Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum (E.F. Sm.) W.C. Snyder & H.N. Hansen. La puesta a punto del método se realizó en base a las reacciones de cultivares referencia de sandía frente a cepas d...

Fifteen onion landraces from Galicia (northwest Spain) were characterised with a set of 25 microsatellite markers and the genetic variability harboured by this collection was compared with the surrounding diversity by comparison with a representative panel of European onion landraces. Twenty markers were polymorphic allowing the detection of 121 al...

The use of doubled haploid (DH) in onion breeding is limited due to the low gynogenesis efficiency, and more specifically with the South European germplasm. Gynogenesis capacity from Spanish germplasm was evaluated and optimized in this study. Field plants produced a higher percentage of embryogenesis induction than growth chamber plants. A 2 to 3...

Mediante la ginogénesis in vitro se pueden obtener plantas de cebolla doblehaploides (DH), facilitándose así la producción de híbridos estables y de gran vigor. El objetivo del presente trabajo es aumentar las frecuencias de inducción de la ginogénesis y la obtención de plantas DH de cebolla. Se utilizaron tres cultivares españoles: Fuentes de Ebro...

The use of doubled haploids in onion breeding is limited due to the low gynogenesis efficiency of this species. Gynogenesis capacity from Spanish germplasm, including the sweet cultivar Fuentes de Ebro, the highly pungent landrace BGHZ1354 and the two Valenciana type commercial varieties Recas and Rita, was evaluated and optimized in this study. Th...

Los capsinoides, compuestos específicos del género Capsicum, presentan propiedades antioxidantes, analgésicas, etc. Estos compuestos son minoritarios, por lo que es necesario un método analítico preciso para cuantificarlos. Un punto crítico del análisis es la extracción de estos compuestos a partir de una matriz vegetal. El objetivo de este trabajo...

Se ha realizado un estudio de la evolución del contenido total e individual de los cinco capsaicinoides mayoritarios [nordihidrocapsaicina (n-DHC), capsaicina (C), dihidrocapsaicina (DHC), homocapsaicina (h-C) y homodihidrocapsaicina (h-DHC)] presentes en el pimiento Bode (Capsicum chinense). El cultivo de los pimientos se ha realizado en invernade...

Se ha llevado a cabo el estudio de la evolución del contenido total e individual de los 5 capsaicinoides mayoritarios (nordihidrocapsaicina (n-DHC), capsaicina (C), dihidrocapsaicina (DHC), homocapsaicina (h-C) y homodihidrocapsaicina (h-DHC)) presentes en el pimiento Naga Jolokia (Capsicum chinense). Los pimientos se han cultivado, en invernadero,...

Se ha llevado a cabo el estudio de la evolución del contenido total e individual de los 5 capsaicinoides mayoritarios (nordihidrocapsaicina (n-DHC), capsaicina (C), dihidrocapsaicina (DHC), homocapsaicina (h-C) y homodihidrocapsaicina (h-DHC)) presentes en el pimiento Malagueta (Capsicum frutescens). Los pimientos se han cultivado en condiciones co...

Seventeen onion landraces from North-West Spain were evaluated using microsatellites markers. Eleven polymorphic markers identified 32 alleles in the whole collection, with an average of 2.9 alleles per locus. High values of observed (mean of 0.45) and expected heterozigosity (mean of 0.51) were detected for the majority of loci. Wright's fixation...

The successful exploitation of germplasm banks, harbouring plant genetic resources indispensable for plant breeding, will depend on our ability to characterize their genetic diversity. The Vegetable Germplasm Bank of Zaragoza (BGHZ) (Spain) holds an important Capsicum annuum collection, where most of the Spanish pepper variability is represented, a...

The evolution of total capsaicinoids and the individual contents of the five major capsaicinoids: nordihydrocapsaicin, capsaicin, dihydrocapsaicin, homocapsaicin and homodihydrocapsaicin present in Bahiana Pepper (Capsicum chinense), during fruit ripening, has been stablished. Bahiana Pepper is a savoury food additive that is widely utilized in Bra...