Despite the ecological and economic importance of passion fruit (Passiflora spp.), molecular markers have only recently been utilized in genetic studies of this genus. In addition, both basic genetic researches related to population studies and pre-breeding programs of passion fruit remain scarce for most Passiflora species. Considering the number of Passiflora species and the increasing use of these species as a resource for ornamental, medicinal, and food purposes, the aims of this review are the following: (i) to present the current condition of the passion fruit crop; (ii) to quantify the applications and effects of using molecular markers in studies of Passiflora; (iii) to present the contributions of genetic engineering for passion fruit culture; and (iv) to discuss the progress and perspectives of this research. Thus, the present review aims to summarize and discuss the relationship between historical and current progress on the culture, breeding, and molecular genetics of passion fruit.

The propagation of many passion fruit species (Passiflora spp.) is done by seeds or sexual method, although asexual propagation, such stem cuttings, grafting or tissue culture is also possible and very useful in many cases. In this work, it was presented information on scientific and technological advances in sexual and asexual propagation of passion fruit, considering the different propagation methods and their applications. New demands for research and development activities are also related, given the wide range of passion fruit species and its potential for food, ornamental and medicinal use.

Banana cultivars are mostly derived from hybridization between wild diploid subspecies of Musa acuminata (A genome) and M. balbisiana (B genome), and they exhibit various levels of ploidy and genomic constitution. The Embrapa ex situ Musa collection contains over 220 accessions, of which only a few have been genetically characterized. Knowledge regarding the genetic relationships and diversity between modern cultivars and wild relatives would assist in conservation and breeding strategies. Our objectives were to determine the genomic constitution based on Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) regions polymorphism and the ploidy of all accessions by flow cytometry and to investigate the population structure of the collection using Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) loci as co-dominant markers based on Structure software, not previously performed in Musa.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi utilizar uma escala de severidade para algumas doenças do maracujazeiro, visando à identificação de fontes de resistência. Foram avaliados 75 acessos de Passiflora spp. em condições de campo, sob alta infecção natural dos patógenos, para a severidade da virose, nas folhas (VIFO), frutos (VIFR) e distribuição na planta (VIPL), bem como para verrugose nos frutos e ramos (VEFR e VERA, respectivamente) e antracnose nos frutos (ANFR). Houve alta variabilidade para resistência às doenças, embora poucos acessos tenham sido classificados como resistentes à VIFO, VIFR e VIPL, sendo que apenas um acesso de P. setacea (BGM237) foi considerado resistente aos três tipos de avaliações para virose. A maioria dos acessos de maracujazeiro- amarelo e roxo possui algum grau de suscetibilidade a um ou outro sintoma da virose. Quanto à VERA, acessos de P. alata e P. cincinnata foram mais resistentes, embora P. alata demonstre maior resistência a VEFR. Alguns acessos de P. edulis comportam-se como moderadamente resistente à VERA e VEFR. A maioria dos acessos de P. alata, P. cincinnata e P. setacea não apresentou sintomas de antracnose nos frutos. A escala de severidade adotada mostrou-se eficiente para a separação dos acessos de maracujazeiro em diferentes classes de resistência a doenças.