The power of vegetal DNA in the service of safety and traceability.
Citrus, colored and perfumed fruits, are very popular in cosmetics, perfumers and agri-food industries. Known since hundreds of years, they are grouped in 3 main genera (Citrus, Fortunella and Poncitrus) within the Rutacea family.
Classification of the species within this family remains complicated. With study of nuclear and chloroplast genomes of plants, numerous teams of scientists have been aimed to establish new classifications.
In addition to the very common lemons, oranges and tengerines, certain little spread species are used in the gastronomic cuisine such as lemon caviar. Given the scarcety, this type of product has a high price and thus a risk of fraud.
DNA Gensee team has launched a research programm on this topic connected with some recent genetic studies and thanks to Bénédicte and Michel Bachès’ help, who share a passion for citrus. This project targets citrus DNA.
Citrus identification both in raw materials and in products made with citrus is crucial to ensure authenticity and prevent the risk of fraud. Indeed, nothing resembles anything more than 2 plants powders.
Our aim is to be able to distinguish and authentify different citrus species and even subspecies, thanks to barcoding and metabarcoding technologies.
References :
1. Une classification complexe – Pépinière Bachès – Agrumes et Oliviers. Available at: http://site.plantes-web.fr/baches/1285/une_classification_complexe.htm. (Accessed: 3rd January 2018)
2. Belknap, W. R. et al. Characterizing the citrus cultivar Carrizo genome through 454 shotgun sequencing. Genome 54, 1005–1015 (2011).
3. Carbonell-Caballero, J. et al. A Phylogenetic Analysis of 34 Chloroplast Genomes Elucidates the Relationships between Wild and Domestic Species within the Genus Citrus. Mol. Biol. Evol. 32, 2015–2035 (2015).
4. Garcia-Lor, A. et al. A nuclear phylogenetic analysis: SNPs, indels and SSRs deliver new insights into the relationships in the ‘true citrus fruit trees’ group (Citrinae, Rutaceae) and the origin of cultivated species. Ann. Bot. 111, 1–19 (2013).
5. Oueslati, A. et al. Genotyping by sequencing reveals the interspecific C. maxima / C. reticulata admixture along the genomes of modern citrus varieties of mandarins, tangors, tangelos, orangelos and grapefruits. PLoS ONE 12, (2017).
6. Curk, F. Citrus investigation : origines et diversité des citrons. (2016).
7. Bachès, B. & Bachès, M. Agrumes: comment les choisir et les cultiver facilement. (Ulmer, 2011).
8. Khamis, F. M. et al. DNA Barcode Reference Library for the African Citrus Triozid, Trioza erytreae (Hemiptera: Triozidae): Vector of African Citrus Greening. J. Econ. Entomol. 110, 2637–2646 (2017).
9. Mahadani, P. & Ghosh, S. K. Utility of indels for species-level identification of a biologically complex plant group: a study with intergenic spacer in Citrus. Mol. Biol. Rep. 41, 7217–7222 (2014).
10. Benson, D. A., Karsch-Mizrachi, I., Lipman, D. J., Ostell, J. & Sayers, E. W. GenBank. Nucleic Acids Res. 37, D26-31 (2009).
11. Luo, K. et al. Assessment of candidate plant DNA barcodes using the Rutaceae family. Sci. China Life Sci. 53, 701–708 (2010).
