The little success of breeding approaches toward the improvement of salt tolerance in crop species is thought to be attributable to the quantitative nature of most, if not all the processes implicated. Hence, the identification of some of the quantitative trait loci (QTL) that contribute to natural variation in salt tolerance should be instrumental in eventually manipulating the perception of salinity and the corresponding responses. A good choice to reach this goal is the plant model system Arabidopsis, whose complete genome sequence is now available. Aiming to analyze natural variability in salt tolerance, we have compared the ability of 102 wild-type races (named ecotypes or accessions) of Arabidopsis to germinate on 250 mm NaCl, finding a wide range of variation among them. Accessions displaying extremely different responses to NaCl were intercrossed, and the phenotypes found in their F₂progenies suggested that natural variation in NaCl tolerance during germination was under polygenic controls. Genetic distances calculated on the basis of variations in repeat number at 22 microsatellites, were analyzed in a group of either extremely salt-tolerant or extremely salt-sensitive accessions. We found that most but not all accessions with similar responses to NaCl are phylogenetically related. NaCl tolerance was also studied in 100 recombinant inbred lines derived from a cross between the Columbia-4 and Landsberg erectaaccessions. We detected 11 QTL harboring naturally occurring alleles that contribute to natural variation in NaCl tolerance in Arabidopsis, six at the germination and five at the vegetative growth stages, respectively. At least five of these QTL are likely to represent loci not yet described by their relationship with salt stress.

Cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) germplasm shows limited genetic variation. Many DNA marker systems have been used for genetic diversity studies in wild and cultivated tomatoes, but their usefulness for characterizing phenotypic differences among very closely related cultivars remains uncertain. We have used 19 selected simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers and 7 amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) primer combinations to characterize 48 cultivars of tomato, mainly traditional cultivars from the south-east of Spain. The main types were Solanum lycopersicum L. 'Muchamiel', 'De la pera', and 'Moruno'. The robustness of the dendrograms and the discrimination power reached with each marker type were similar. Unique fingerprinting even of the most closely related tomato cultivars could be obtained using a combination of some SSR and AFLP markers. A better grouping of the 'Muchamiel' cultivars was observed with SSR markers, whereas the grouping of cultivars of 'De la pera' type was best achieved with AFLPs. However, both types of markers adequately grouped cultivars of the main types, confirming the utility of SSR and AFLP markers for the identification of traditional cultivars of tomato.Key words: genetic variability, molecular markers, Solanum lycopersicum.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are major determinants of fruit flavor, a primary objective in tomato breeding. A recombinant inbred line (RIL) population consisting of 169 lines derived from a cross between Solanum lycopersicum and a red-fruited wild tomato species Solanum pimpinellifolium accession (SP) was characterized for VOCs in three different seasons. Correlation and hierarchical cluster analyses were performed on the 52 VOCs identified, providing a tool for the putative assignation of individual compounds to metabolic pathways. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis, based on a genetic linkage map comprising 297 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), revealed 102 QTLs (75% not described previously) corresponding to 39 different VOCs. The SP alleles exerted a positive effect on most of the underlying apocarotenoid volatile QTLs-regarded as desirable for liking tomato-indicating that alleles inherited from SP are a valuable resource for flavor breeding. An introgression line (IL) population developed from the same parental genotypes provided 12 ILs carrying a single SP introgression and covering 85 VOC QTLs, which were characterized at three locations. The results showed that almost half of the QTLs previously identified in the RILs maintained their effect in an IL form, reinforcing the value of these QTLs for flavor/aroma breeding in cultivated tomato.