Role of Polyploidy in Vine Cacti Speciation and Crop Domestication
Authors: Tel-Zur Neomi , Doyle Jeffrey J. 
Published: March 2022

1. Abstract: Over the past 25 years, vine cacti of the genera Hylocereus and Selenicereus have been introduced into Israel and southern California as new exotic fruit crops. The importance of these crops lies in their high water use efficiency and horticultural potential as exotic fruit crops. Our collaboration focused on the cytological, molecular and evolutionary aspects of vine cacti polyploidization to confront the agricultural challenge of genetic improvement, ultimately to improve success of vine cacti as commercial fruit crop plants. More specifically, we worked on the: 1- Identification of the putative ancestor(s) of the tetraploid H. megalanthus; 2- Determination of the number of origins of H. megalanthus (single vs. multiple origins of polyploidy); 3- Cytogenetic analysis of BC1 and F1 hybrids; 4- Determination of important agricultural traits and the selection of superior hybrids for cultivation. The plant material used in this study comprised interspecific Hylocereus F1 and first backcross (BC1) hybrids, nine Hylocereus species (58 genotypes), nine Selenicereus species (14 genotypes), and four Epiphyllum genotypes. Two BC1 hexaploids (BC-023 and BC-031) were obtained, a high ploidy level that can be explained only by a fertilization event between one unreduced female gamete from the triploid hybrid and a balanced gamete from the pollen donor, the diploid H. monacanthus. These findings are scientific evidence that support the possibility that “hybridization followed by chromosome doubling” could also occur in nature.  Cytomixis, the migration of chromatin between adjacent cells through connecting cytoplasmatic channels, was observed in vine cacti hybrids and may thus imply selective DNA elimination in response to the allopolyploidization process. Evidence from plastid and nrDNA internal transcribed spacers (ITS) sequences support the placement of H. megalanthus within a monophyletic Hylocereus group. Furthermore, both plastid and ITS datasets are most consistent with a conclusion that this tetraploid species is an autopolyploid, despite observations that the species appears to be morphologically intermediate between Hylocereus and Selenicereus. Although the possibility of very narrow allopolyploidly (i.e., derivation from parents that are barely diverged from each other such as closely related species in the same genus) cannot be ruled out entirely based on our data (in part due to the unavailability of Hylocereus species considered to be morphologically the closest relatives of H. megalanthus), the possibility of H. megalanthus representing an intergeneric cross (i.e., Hylocereus × Selenicereus) seems extremely unlikely. Interestingly, the process of homogenization of ITS sequences (concerted evolution) is either incomplete or lacking in both Hylocereus and Selenicereus, and the inclusion of several artificial hybrids in the molecular study revealed the potential for biparental plastid inheritance in Hylocereus. The most important agricultural implication of this research project was the information collected for F1 and BC1 hybrids. Specifically, this project concluded with the selection of four superior hybrids in terms of fruit quality and potential yields under extreme high temperatures. These selected hybrids are self-compatible, avoiding the need for hand cross pollination to set fruits, thus reducing manpower costs. We recently offered these hybrids to growers in Israel for prioritized rapid evaluation and characterization.