The genetic diversity of macadamia nuts is very poor and 70% of commercial cultivars have a single origin
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Macadamia seeds are called macadamia nuts and are widely used for food such as chocolate and cookies. Such macadamias lack genetic diversity, and genetic research has revealed that 70% of macadamias grown in orchards around the world have a single origin.
Frontiers | Wild Origins of Macadamia Domicification Identified Through Through Intraspecific Chloroplast Genome Sequencing | Plant Science
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2019.00334/full#h1
Nut of note: 70% of the world's macadamia can be traced back to a single Australian tree | Science | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jun/01/nut-of-note-70-of-worlds-macadamia-come-from-single-australian-tree
'Shocking' DNA discovery traces most of the world's macadamias back to one Australian tree-ABC Rural-ABC News
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-05-30/macadamia-research-nuts/11160786
The origin of macadamia is Australia, but nowadays it is also grown in the US and South Africa etc. Of these, Hawaii is known as the main cultivation site of macadamia. Craig Hardner, a horticultural science researcher
As a result of tracing their ancestry using genetic markers , it was found that all commercial macadamias grown in Hawaii originate from the macadamia of Moulou , 160 km north of Brisbane , the capital of Queensland . All Hawaiian macadamias have unique genetic markers in common with the muroo macadamias, and it has been recorded as a record that the murou macadamias were brought to Honolulu , Hawaii in 1896.
Macadamia cultivation is a $ 3 billion industry, but the results of this study show that 70% of commercially grown macadamias carry the same gene, and genetic diversity Is very scarce. 'A large number of trees carry the same gene,' says Mack, 'as with many horticultural crops, macadamias are grown by grafts.'
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The native habitat of Macadamia in Australia is reduced by development compared to before. Nevertheless, the area of origin, southern Queensland and northern New South Wales, remains rich in genetic diversity compared to commercially grown macadamia.
Hardner points out that genetic diversity can improve crop productivity, disease resistance, and allow larger areas to grow. It is possible to extract new macadamia genes that may be useful for breeding from forests and backyards of people's homes.
'Mcadamia, which is commercially grown, is only a few generations from wild, and does not have many gene selection cycles like old-grown apples. This is because macadamia's gene is This means that there are many more opportunities for improvement, ”said Hardner, who emphasized the importance of identifying and protecting wild macadamia genetic markers.
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