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A genealogy of the citrus family

Nature Biotechnology volume 32, pages 640–642 (2014)Cite this article

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Clarification of the genetic relationships among species opens new possibilities for enhancing citrus diversity and disease resistance.

The family relationships among citrus fruits—which include sweet and sour oranges, mandarins, clementines, tangerines, grapefruits, pummelos, kumquats, lemons and limes—are famously obscure. Thousands of years of citrus cultivation and interbreeding have yielded some 25 species and at least 250 commercial varieties. Following on the recently published draft genome of sweet orange1, Wu et al.2 report in this issue the genome sequences of clementines, mandarins, pummelos, sweet oranges and sour oranges. By combining these data with some elegant sleuth work, they also make important progress in elucidating the phylogenetic history of citrus domestication. Given the dependence of the $9 billion/year global citrus industry on large-scale monoculture, the findings provide much-needed opportunities for de novo breeding of citrus varieties with increased resistance to pathogens and environmental extremes. Breeding guided by genomic information will also provide a greater diversity of fruit for consumers in terms of new combinations of taste, aroma, size, color, shape and ease of peeling.

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Figure 1: The origin and evolution of select citrus species.

Kim Caesar/Nature Publishing Group

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Riccardo Velasco is at Fondazione Edmund Mach, di San Michele a/Adige, Trento, Italy.,

    Riccardo Velasco

  2. Concetta Licciardello is at the Consiglio di Ricerca e Sperimentazione in Agricoltura, CRA-ACM, Acireale, Italy.,

    Concetta Licciardello

Authors
  1. Riccardo Velasco
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  2. Concetta Licciardello
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Correspondence to Riccardo Velasco.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Velasco, R., Licciardello, C. A genealogy of the citrus family. Nat Biotechnol 32, 640–642 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.2954

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