Berken Cimen

By Berken Cimen and Turgut Yesiloglu

Citrus species are the most widely produced fruit crops in the world. Citrus fruits are mainly produced in coastal areas in several countries as well as Mediterranean region, and production in these regions is affected by both biotic and abiotic stresses, including drought, extreme temperature, salinity, citrus canker, citrus tristeza virus, citrus greening, and others. The use of rootstocks in fruit production includes not only stronger resistance against pathogens but also a higher tolerance to abiotic stress conditions such as salinity, heavy metals, nutrient stress, water stress, and alkalinity. There is extensive genetic diversity in citrus which provides several materials to be used as rootstocks against abiotic stress. In this work, we tried to provide an overview of the abiotic stresses in citrus by combining literature with our studies, role of citrus rootstocks commercially used against abiotic stresses and rootstock breeding in citrus.

Part of the book: Abiotic and Biotic Stress in Plants

By Turgut Yesiloglu, Berken Cimen, Meral Incesu and Bilge Yilmaz

The genus Diospyros, which is distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, contains hundreds of plant species. However, four species of them have commercial importance. D. kaki Thunb. is the most widely cultivated species of the Diospyros genus. Persimmon (D. kaki Thunb.) is grown in many parts of the world that display subtropical climate conditions. In recent years, the cultivation of persimmon has found renewed interest in various countries of the Mediterranean basin. In China (which is the origin of persimmon) and in Japan and Korea (where it is grown widely), persimmons were selected from some well-known old varieties. Recently in countries such as Italy, Spain, USA, Brazil, Turkey and Israel, persimmons were selected from new cultivars. Currently China, Japan and Korea have the big persimmon germplasm collections with a large number of varieties and other Diospyros species. Also, Italy, Spain, USA, Brazil, Turkey, Israel, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan have constituted the germplasms by high commercial value cultivars and/or local varieties. In this chapter, we tried to provide an overview of the genetic diversity and breeding of persimmon by combining literature with our studies.

Part of the book: Breeding and Health Benefits of Fruit and Nut Crops