Peach

Prunus persica

By: Stephany Mendoza

Grabber

How do you feel knowing that your immortal?

More than a thousand years ago it was believed that if you ate a peach you would be immoral because the tree took more than 3,000 years to blossom and more than 3,000 years to ripen.

There is a lot of history surrounding the peach in the Chinese culture some of which are tales said that Chinese folks held.

Geological Time Scale

Species Age

Fossilized Peach Stones (~ 2.6 MA) - Ancient wild ancestor found in Yunnan Province, China

Pliocene Epoch (~ 2.6 MA) - stones found in Southwest China, when larger fruits started to show the difference in size and shape of the peaches before humans domesticated

Neolithic period (~7,500 - 8,000 years ago) - was the first cultivating date in China

Holocene Epoch (4,000 to 7,500 years ago) - cultivation and domestication of peaches in China, the peach stones look more larger and compressed (like how they are now)

History Timeline

Archean Eon (~ 3.8 BYA) - LUCA, where the peach gets its genetic coding

Proterozoic Eon (~ 2.1 BYA) - Endosymbiosis occurs that allows the separation of plants and animals

Green Lineage (~ 1.6 BYA) - Chloroplast occurs allowing for the plant to perform photosynthesis

Paleozoic Era (~500 MA) - allows for plants to come from ocean to land letting plants have a vascular system

Sub-Members

Prunus perisica var. persica

Prunus persica var. nucipersica

Prunus ferganensis

Sub - Members

Prunus perisica var. persica

Known as

Fuzzy skinned peach

Facts

Blooms late winter (early spring)
Classified as clingstone, freestone, or semi-freestone
var. persica is used to refer to fuzzy peach
Color is yellow-red

Prunus persica var. nucipersica

Known as

Smooth skinned peach

Facts

Blooms late winter (spring)
Classified as freestone or clingstone
var. nucipersica is used to refer to smooth peach
Color is deep red

Prunus ferganensis

Known as

Fergana peach

Facts

Drought tolerance
Size is smaller
Color is greenish - white or pale yellow

Evolutionary Tree

LUCA

~ 4.2 BYA

Genetic coding

Early Eukaryotic Cells

~ 1.5 - 2.1 BYA

Single - celled

Endosynthesis

~ 1.6 BYA

Green algae cell appear from cyanobacterium and endosynthesis

Genetic Innovation (Cell adhesion genes, communication pathways, and development regulation genes)

Multicellular

~ 1.2 BYA

Colonical Living (Cells stick after division and early signaling between cells develops)

Cellular Specialization

~ 1.0 BYA

Multicellular Green Algae (Cells stop being dependent, minimal specialization, and seen in some algae and early eukaryotes)

Complex Multicellular

~ 540 MA

Cambrian Explosion and rapid diverification of animals (Germ (reproductive) cells and somatic (body) cells)

Angiosperms

~ 140 MA

Jurassic Period (flowering plants) changes how plants reproduce and having seeds get covered by their protective fruits

Rosaceae Family

~ 90 MA

Common ancestor of plant diversity (Dryadiodeae, Rosoideae, and Amygdaloideae)

Subfamily (Amygdaleae)

~ 50 MA

Has high baseline diploid genome

Subgenus (Amygdalus)

~ 8 - 10 MA

The genus adapts to humid weather making the fruit sweet and juicy

Early Wild Peaches

~ 7,500 - 8,000 years ago

Cultivating and selecting wild peach

Modern Prunus persica

~ 5,000 years ago

Selective breeding making the peach larger by domestication

Tree of Evolution

Genetics

Characteristics

Karyotype: Diploid orgnism (8 main chromosomes)
Does not duplicate
Chromosome 4 - Endo-polygalacturonase (softening gene)
Peaches differ by either having or not having trichomes (fuzz) which is a recessive trait (G locus) on chromosome 5
Flat or round on chromosome 6 (S locus) flat is dominant trait
Normally all peaches are heterozygous because if they were homozygous to the S locus they were cause early fruit drop

Unique Charateristics of Prunus persica

Self pollinates

Texture controlled on Chromosome 5 (PpeMYB25)

Recessive homozygous gives completely smooth and shiny skin (nectarine)
Dominant homozygous or heterozygous gives fuzzy peach skin

Softness controlled on chromosome 4 (EndoPG)

Soft and juicy (melting flesh) - dominant
Firm (non-melting flesh) - recessive

Shape controlled on Chromosome 6 (S locus)

Flat shape is dominant - homozygous is dangerous
Round shape is recessive - heterzygous is preferred

Acidity controlled on Chromosome 5 (D locus)

Sweet (low acidity) - dominant trait
High acidity - recessive

Color of petal controlled by variants of Flavonol Synthase (FLS) gene

Co - evolution

Natural selection

Tibetan Plateau Uplift (8 MA) - creates dry and arid environment
Adaptation to Stress - Dormancy Associated MADS-box (DAM) evolved into a strict regulatory mechanism

Human Selection

Domestication began around 7,500-8,000 years ago
increase in fruit size
softer flesh
sweeter (low-acid)

Reference

https://jameskennedymonash.wordpress.com/2014/07/09/artificial-vs-natural-peach/

http://www.plantgrower.org/peach.html

https://journals.ashs.org/view/journals/hortsci/19/3/article-p348.xml

https://www.gardenia.net/genus/prunus-persica

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12511304/

https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/10/2191

https://academic.oup.com/g3journal/article/6/12/3985/6059684?login=false

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