Tropical and Subtropical Agroecosystems

Background. Mexico has a great diversity of chili peppers, especially in C. annuum L., which includes local morphotypes that have been little studied. Apaxtleco chili pepper is only found in Guerrero State, Mexico, and it is important in Apaxtla region due to economic resources it generates, and because it is used in preparation of typical mole in this region; however, its morphological diversity has not been described and this visualizes the state of this plant genetic resource to define use and conservation strategies. Objective. To analyze and describe morphological diversity of a group of Apaxtleco chili pepper populations, identify characteristics that most support its diversity and establish similarity relationship between the populations studied. Methodology. Twenty-four populations of apaxtleco chili pepper collected from Apaxtla de Castrejón, Guerrero were evaluated under randomized complete block experimental design, with four replications. The evaluation was carried out under greenhouse conditions at Tuxpan Unit of Autonomous University of Guerrero. Sowing was carried out in July 2020 in polyethylene pots with 16 L capacity. Fifty-nine morphological variables from IPGRI descriptors for Capsicum were recorded, and variance, discriminant, principal components (CP) and conglomerated analysis were performed by SAS V9.3 software. Results. Statistical significant differences were found in 72.9 % of variables registered and seventeen were selected by its contribution to variation according discriminant analysis, which were mostly fruits characteristics. In CP, with the first six, 76 % of total morphological variation was explained; length fruit and pedicel, width seed, weight fruit per plant, color of fruit at intermediate stage, number fruits per plant, width fruit, fruit and seed texture, filament color, number seeds per fruit and shape fruit appendage had greater contribution to total morphological diversity and were useful to differentiate populations under study. As well, four groups of apaxtleco chili pepper with different fruit, vegetative and flower characteristics were identified, however, it was possible to group them by shape and texture of fruits. Implications. Contribute to description of diversity of local populations of apaxtleco chili, native to Guerrero, Mexico, and that allows the establishment of use and conservation mechanisms for food security. Conclusion. Morphological diversity of native apaxtleco chili of Guerrero is presented mainly in fruit characteristics and lesser degree in vegetative and seed traits, which were useful to explain greater total variation in this local chili. The shape and texture fruits were important characteristics in grouping.

C. annuum L.; local variety; plant genetic resources.

Aguilar, M.R. and Rodríguez, C.E., 2018. El origen de los chiles domesticados (Capsicum annuum L.) del México multiétnico. In: E. Silva R., V. Martínez V., M. Lascurain, E. Rodríguez L., eds. De la recolección a los agroecosistemas, soberanía alimentaria y conservación de la biodiversidad. Quehacer Científico y Tecnológico, Universidad Veracruzana, pp. 47-64.

Aguilar, R.V.H., Corona, T.T., López, L.P., Latournerie, M.L., Ramírez, M.M., Villalón, M.H. and Aguilar, C.J.A., 2010. Los chiles de México y su distribución. SINAREFI. Colegio de Postgraduados, INIFAP, IT-Conkal, UANL, UAN. Montecillo, Texcoco, Estado de México.

Aguilar-Meléndez, A., Vásquez-Dávila, M.A., Katz, E. and Hernández, C.M.R., 2018. Los chiles que le dan sabor al mundo: contribuciones multidisciplinarias. Universidad Veracruzana. Xalapa, Veracruz, México.

Aklilu, S., Abebie B., Wogari, D. and Teklewold, A., 2016. Analysis of morphological diversity among hot pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) collections in the Rift Valley area of Ethiopia. Tropical Agriculture, 93(3), pp. 152-164.

Alvares, B.P., Almeida, S.L.R., da Silva, A.A.A., Araújo, D.S.P.H., Pimenta, S., Pombo, S.C., Erpen-Dalla, C.L., Azeredo, G.L.S. and Rodrigues, R., 2020. Biomorphological characterization of Brazilian Capsicum chinense Jacq. germplasm. Agronomy, 10(3), pp. 447. http://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10030447

Barboza, G.E., Carrizo, G.C., Leiva, G.S., Scaldaferro, M. and Reyes, X., 2019. Four new species of Capsicum (Solanaceae) from the Tropical Andes and an update on the phylogeny of the genus. PLoS ONE, 14(1), pp. e0209792. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209792

Barchenger D.W. and Bosland P.W., 2019. Wild chile pepper (Capsicum L.) of North America. In: S. Greene, K. Williams, C. Khoury, M. Kantar and L. Marek, eds. North American Crop Wild Relatives, Volume 2. Springer, Cham, pp. 225-242. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97121-6_7

Berry, M.H., Rickett, D.V., Baxter, C.J., Enfissi, E.M.A. and Fraser, P.D., 2019. Carotenoid biosynthesis and sequestration in red chilli pepper fruit and its impact on colour intensity traits. Journal of Experimental Botany, 70, pp. 2637-2650. http://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erz086

Bosland, P.W. and Votava, E.J., 2012. Peppers: Vegetable and spice capsicums. 2nd ed. Oxfordshire, UK: CAB International.

Carrizo, G.C., Barfuss, M.H.J., Sehr, E.M., Barboza, G.E., Samuel, R. Moscone, E.A. and Ehrendorfer, F., 2016. Phylogenetic relationships, diversification and expansion of chili peppers (Capsicum, Solanaceae). Annals of Botany, 118, pp. 35-51. http://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcw079

Castillo-Aguilar, C.C., López, C.L.C., Pacheco, N., Cuevas-Bernardino, J.C., Garruña, R. and Andueza-Noh, R.H., 2021. Phenotypic diversity and capsaicinoid content of chilli pepper landraces (Capsicum spp.) from the Yucatan Peninsula. Plant Genetic Resources: Characterization and Utilization, 19(2), pp. 159-166. http://doi.org/10.1017/S1479262121000204

CONABIO, Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad, 2016. Los chiles de México. [online] Cartel 12733. https://bioteca.biodiversidad.gob.mx/janium-bin/janium_zui.pl?jzd=/janium/Documentos/ETAPA06/AP/12733/cartel_chiles_espanol.jzd&fn=12733. [accessed october 2021].

De la Cruz-Lázaro, E., Márquez-Quiroz, C., Osorio-Osorio, R., Preciado-Rangel, P. and Márquez-Hernández, C., 2017. Caracterización morfológica in situ de chile silvestre Pico de paloma (Capsicum frutescens) en Tabasco, México. Acta Universitaria, 27(2), pp. 3-9. http://doi.org/10.15174/au.2017.1083

Gepts, P., 2014. The contribution of genetic and genomic approaches to plant domestication studies. Current Opinion in Plant Biology, 18, pp. 51-59. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2014.02.001

González-Jara, P., Moreno-Letelier, A., Fraile, A., Piñero, D. and García-Arenal, F., 2011. Impact of human management on the genetic variation of wild pepper, Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum. PLoS ONE, 6(12), pp. e28715. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0028715

Gower, J.C., 1971. A general coefficient of similarity and some of its properties. Biometrics, 27, pp. 857-871. http://doi.org/10.2307/2528823

Hayano-Kanashiro, C., Gámez-Meza, N. and Medina-Juárez, L.A., 2016. Wild pepper Capsicum annuum L. var. glabriusculum: taxonomy, plant morphology, distribution, genetic diversity, genome sequencing, and phytochemical compounds. Crop Science, 56, pp. 1-11. http://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2014.11.0789

Hernández-Pérez, T., Gómez-García, M.R., Valverde, M.E. and Paredes-López, O., 2020. Capsicum annuum (hot pepper): An ancient Latin-American crop with outstanding bioactive compounds and nutraceutical potential. A review. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, pp. 1-22. http://doi.org/10.1111/1541-4337.12634

IPGRI, AVRDC, CATIE [International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center, Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza]. 1995. Descriptors for Capsicum (Capsicum spp.). IPGRI, AVRDC, CATIE. 51 p. https://www.bioversityinternational.org/fileadmin/user_upload/online_library/publications/pdfs/345.pdf. [accessed may 2020]

Jardón, B.L., 2017. De Sonora a Yucatán. Chiles en México: diversidad y domesticación. Oikos, 17, pp. 25-29.

Kadri, B.M., Esiyok, E. and Turhan, K., 2009. Patterns of phenotypic variation in a germplasm collection of pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) from Turkey. Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research, 7, pp. 83-95. http://doi.org/10.5424/sjar/2009071-401

Karkee, A., Mainali, R.P., Basnet, S., Ghimire, K.H., Joshi, B.K., Thapa, P., Shrestha, D.S., Joshi, P., Pokhrel, P. and Mishra, K.K., 2021. Agro-morphological characterization and intra-varietal diversity of akabarechilli (Capsicum spp.) landraces of Nepal. SAARC Journal of Agriculture, 19(2), pp. 37-55. http://doi.org/10.3329/sja.v19i2.57671

Khoury, C.K., Carver, D., Barchenger, D.W., Barboza, G.E., van Zonneveld, M., Jarret, R., Bohs, L., Kantar, M., Uchanski, M., Mercer, K., Nabhan, G.P., Bosland, P.W. and Greene, S.L., 2020. Modelled distributions and conservation status of the wild relatives of chile peppers (Capsicum L.). Diversity and Distributions, 26, pp. 209–225. http://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13008

Kraft, K.H., Brown, C.H., Nabhan, G.P., Luedeling, E., Luna, R.J.J., d’Eeckenbrugge, G.C., Hijmans, R.J. and Gepts P., 2014. Multiple lines of evidence for the origin of domesticated chili pepper, Capsicum annuum, in Mexico. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111, pp. 6165-6170. http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1308933111

Li, P., Zhang, X., Liu, Y., Xie, Z., Zhang, R., Zhao, K., Lv, J., Wen, J. and Deng, M., 2022. Characterization of 75 cultivars of four Capsicum species in terms of fruit morphology, capsaicinoids, fatty acids, and pigments. Applied Sciences, 12, pp. 6292. https://doi.org/10.3390/app12126292

Luna-Ruiz, J.J., Nabhan, J.P. and Aguilar-Meléndez, A., 2018. Shifts in plant chemical defenses of chile pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) due to domestication in Mesoamerica. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 6, 48. http://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2018.00048

Martínez-Ávalos, J.G., Venegas-Barrera, C.S., Martínez-Gallegos, R., Torres-Castillo, J.A., Olazarán, S.F.E., Mora-Olivo, A., Guerra, P.A., Arellano-Méndez, L.U. and Garza, O.F., 2018. A review on the geographical distribution, fruit production and concentration of capsaicinoids in Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum in the Northeastern region of Mexico. Preprints, pp. 2018110517. http://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201811.0517.v1

Martínez-Sánchez, D., Pérez-Grajales, M., Rodríguez-Pérez, J.E. and Moreno-Pérez, E.C., 2010. Colecta y caracterización morfológica de 'chile de agua' (Capsicum annuum L.) en Oaxaca, México. Revista Chapingo Serie horticultura, 16(3), pp. 169-176. http://doi.org/10.5154/r.rchsh.2010.16.021

Meyer, R.S., DuVal, A.E. and Jensen, H.R., 2012. Patterns and processes in crop domestication: an historical review and quantitative analysis of 203 global food crops. New Phytologist, 196, pp. 29-48. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2012.04253.x

Moreno-Pérez, E.C., Avendaño-Arrazate, C.H., Mora-Aguilar, R., Cadena-Iñiguez, J., Aguilar-Rincón, V.H. and Aguirre-Medina, J.F., 2011. Diversidad morfológica en colectas de chile guajillo (Capsicum annuum L.) del Centro-Norte de México. Revista Chapingo Serie horticultura, 17(1), pp. 23-30. http://doi.org/10.5154/r.rchsh.2011.17.004

Moreno-Ramírez, Y.R., Santacruz-Varela, A., López, P.A., López-Sánchez, H., Córdova-Téllez, L., González-Hernández, V.A., Corona-Torres, T. and López-Ortega, R., 2019. Morphological diversity of Zacatecas guajillo chile landraces is broad and is given mainly by fruit traits. Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture, 31, pp. 440-448. http://doi.org/10.9755/ejfa.2019.v31.i6.1965

Murillo-Amador, B., Rueda-Puente, O.E., Troyo-Diéguez, E., Córdoba-Matson, M.V., Hernández-Montiel, L.G. and Nieto-Garibay, A., 2015. Baseline study of morphometric traits of wild Capsicum annuum growing near two biosphere reserves in the Peninsula of Baja California for future conservation management. BioMed Central, Plant Biology, 15(118), pp. 1-18. http://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-015-0505-6

Narez-Jiménez, C.A., de la Cruz-Lázaro, E., Gómez-Vázquez, A., Castañón-Nájera, G. Cruz-Hernández, A. and Márquez-Quiroz, C., 2014. La diversidad morfológica in situ de chiles silvestres (Capsicum spp.) de Tabasco, México. Revista Fitotecnia Mexicana, 37, pp. 209-215

Olatunji, T.L. and Afolayan, A.J., 2019. Contributions to the classification of Capsicum annuum L. and Capsicum frutescens L. in West Africa using morphological traits. Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Napoca, 47, pp. 135-142. http://doi.org/10.15835/nbha47111204

Orobiyi, A., Loko, L.Y., Sanoussi, F., Agre, A.P., Korie, N., Gbaguidi A., Adjatin A., Agbangla C. and Dansi A., 2018. Agro-morphological characterization of chili pepper landraces (Capsicum annuum L.) cultivated in Northern Benin. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, 65, pp. 555-569. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-017-0553-x

Pickersgill, B., 2016. Chile peppers (Capsicum spp.). In: R. Lira, A. Casas and J. Blancas, eds. Ethnobotany of Mexico, interactions of people and plants in Mesoamerica. Springer Science, pp. 417-438. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6669-7_17

SAS Institute, 2012. SAS/STAT User’s Guide: Software Version 9.4. Statistical Analysis System Institute. Cary, North Carolina, USA.

Shannon, C.E. and Weaver, W., 1964. The mathematical theory of communication. The University of Illinois. Chicago, USA.

SIAP-SADER [Servicio de Información Agroalimentaria y Pesquera - Secretaría de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural], 2022. Servicio de Información Agroalimentaria y Pesquera. https://nube.siap.gob.mx/cierreagricola/. [accessed february 2022].

Toledo-Aguilar, R., López-Sánchez, H., López, P.A. Guerrero-Rodríguez, J. D., Santacruz-Varela, A. and Huerta-de la Peña, A., 2016. Diversidad morfológica de poblaciones nativas de chile poblano. Revista mexicana de ciencias agrícolas, 7, pp. 1005-1015.

Vázquez-Casarrubias, G., Escalante-Estrada, J.A.S., Rodríguez-González, M.T., Ramírez-Ayala, C. and Escalante-Estrada, L.E., 2011. Edad al trasplante y su efecto en el crecimiento y rendimiento de chile apaxtleco. Revista Chapingo Serie Horticultura, 17(1), pp. 61-65. 10.5154/r.rchsh.2011.17.009

Velázquez-Ventura, J.C., Márquez-Quiroz, C., De la Cruz- Lázaro, E., Osorio-Osorio, R. and Preciado-Rangel, P., 2018. Morphological variation of wild peppers (Capsicum spp.) from the State of Tabasco, Mexico. Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture, 30(2), pp. 115-121. http://doi.org/10.9755/ejfa.2018.v30.i2.1603