Genetic variation in wild and cultivated artichoke revealed by RAPD markers.

Abstract

Determination of intraspecific genetic diversity is an important first step for the utilization of genetic resources and canprovide useful information on crop evolution. A living collection of Italian and foreign artichoke varieties and ecotypes is maintained at the Germplasm Institute, Bari, Italy. A total of 32 accessions of cultivated (Cynara cardunculus L. var.scolymus (L.) Fiori), three of wild (Cynara cardunculus var.cardunculus L.) artichoke and two ofcultivated cardoon (Cynara cardunculus var.altilis L.) were analysed in order to studygenetic variation and relationships within the species, using RAPDmarkers. Cultivated accessions were selected according tomorphological variation and geographical distribution available inthe collection. Fifty arbitrary decamer primers were initially tested, 18 ofwhich showed from 3 to 10 unambiguously interpretable fragments. Anintra-accession analysis using 4 varieties and 8 polymorphicprimers revealed that no RAPD variation was detected amongindividuals. Jaccard's similarity index (JSI) was comprisedamong 1 and 0.693 when all accessions were considered, on the otherhand, within the cultivated artichoke, JSI ranged between 1 and0.817. A UPGMA dendrogram based on the similarity matrix showed thatwild artichokes were clearly separated from cultivated accessions.Moreover, within cultivated artichokes, several groups could bedistinguished.