The Muscats: A molecular analysis of synonyms, homonyms and genetic relationships within a large family of grapevine cultivars

Abstract

The Muscats are a large, wide-spread family of grapevines, having in common besides the name the typical Muscat flavour. A huge number of synonyms and homonyms makes it difficult to identify them. Sixty-four accessions were analysed in the present work; they are representatives of the huge variability of this family as far as morphological aspects, berry colour and size, time of ripening and aptitude for wine and/or table grape production are considered. An analysis was performed at two isozymes and 25 microsatellite loci. The 64 accessions were reduced to 20, which were easily distinguishable from each other at the molecular level by as few as two microsatellite loci, The remaining 44 were found to be synonyms. Three mutants with red and pink coloured berries were identified in the Moscato bianco group. Moscato nero encompasses at least two, Moscato rosa three different varieties. It seems that only two of the analysed Muscats are the main progenitors of the Muscat family: Moscato bianco and Muscat of Alexandria, which in turn are joined by a direct parent-offspring link. We were unable to discriminate biotypes belonging to the same cultivar by microsatellite markers.