For more than four decades after the introduction of cv. Italia (Vitis vinifera L.) in Brazil, several somatic mutations in the genome of cv. Italia and its somatic mutants gave rise to phenotypes which generated at least five new cultivars of fine table grapes. Since no molecular marker proved to be effective in discriminating cv. Italia (V. vinifera L.) and its coloured mutants (Rubi, Benitaka, Brasil, Black Star), primers for the long terminal repeat (LTR) sequences were developed to analyse Inter Retrotransposon Amplified Polymorphism (IRAP) and Retrotransposon-Microsatellite Amplified Polymorphism (REMAP), and investigate how the coloured cultivars derived from clonal propagations of somatic mutations are genetically structured. Primers for LTR sequences of IRAP and REMAP markers were edited from grape sequence databases available at a GenBank. Twenty-four primers, denominated DKS001–DKS024, were edited. Three hundred and forty-nine DNA segments were amplified by individual DKS primers and DKS/ISSR (Inter Simple Sequence Repeats) primer combinations, at an average of 13.96 amplicons per primer pair. High genetic divergence between the five cultivars was inferred from polymorphism in retrotransposons IRAP and REMAP. The analysis of polymorphism of IRAP and REMAP retrotransposons was crucial to show that clonal propagation of somatic mutations may lead towards the formation of genetically divergent cultivars by the formation of genetically structured vineyards and show the mixture of genomes within each cultivar.

Colonial invertebrates often mix sexual and asexual methods of propagation, and a comprehensive understanding of both is required for life history study. The asexual cloning of new colonies in cupuladriid bryozoans is much better studied than the formation of new colonies by sexual reproduction. As such, the relative investments of sexual and asexual modes of propagation remain uncertain. This preliminary study explores patterns of embryonic brooding as a measure of investment into sexual reproduction. We conduct a survey of quantity and arrangement of embryos in tropical eastern Pacific cupuladriid colonies and compare this to the frequency of cloning. Species populations show considerable variation in embryonic brooding. Patterns of brooding, both across and within species strongly support the hypothesis that as cloning increases, investment into sexual reproduction decreases. We find preliminary evidence that individual cupuladriid colonies that propagate sexually may senesce like solitary organisms, while species that regularly clone only appear to experience senescence at the level of the zooid.