Avocado

Persea americana

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Persea americana (avocado) is a diploid fruit species (2n=24) native to Mexico and Central America. It belongs to the Lauraceae family, which includes 50 genera and about 2,200 species, predominantly found in tropical and subtropical regions.

  • Botanical Classification: Avocado is classified into three botanical types based on origin and cultivation conditions:
    • P. americana cv. drymifolia (Mexican): Adapted to colder, mountainous regions.
    • P. americana cv. guatemalensis (Guatemalan): Suited for colder climates, originating from high altitudes in Central America.
    • P. americana cv. american (Antillan): Prefers warmer, tropical lowlands.
  • Tree Characteristics: Avocado trees are leafy and evergreen and can grow up to 20 meters tall. In commercial plantations, they are pruned to around 5 meters to facilitate harvesting and phytosanitary control.
  • Floral Biology: Avocado flowers grow in clusters and exhibit protogynous dichogamy, where they open first as female and later as male to enhance cross-pollination. The flowering pattern is classified as type A or B.
  • Fruit Characteristics: The avocado fruit is a single-seeded berry with variable peel colors (green, violet, or black), weights ranging from 150 to 350 grams, different shapes and yellow-green pulp. The fruits do not ripen on the tree; ripening occurs post-harvest and may take 6 to 12 months from flowering to maturity.
  • Germplasm Conservation: The Institute of Subtropical and Mediterranean Horticulture (IHSM) conserves over 100 avocado accessions in its germplasm collection.

Documents

Descriptors for avocado
Guía de gestión integrada de plagas del aguacate
Manual de calidad del aguacate
Manual de manejo práctico del cultivo de aguacate
Valor nutricional aguacate Fen.org.es


Genome assembly stats

Summary of the Persea americana cv. Hass draft genome assembly, from Talavera et al., 2019.

Contigs Scaffolds
Total assembly size (Gb) 1.03 1.01
Total assembled sequences 2,096,006 1,852,224
Longest sequence length (Kb) 57.80 160.08
Average sequence length (Kb) 0.49 0.54
N50 index (sequences) 475,145 377,224
L50 length (Kb) 0.56 0.68

Taxonomy

Kingdom Plantae
Phylum Streptophyta
Class Magnoliopsida
Order Laurales
Family Lauraceae
Genus Persea Mill.
Species Persea americana Mill.