Abstract
BackgroundAsparagus acutifolius L. is a dioecious and native plant species, widely distributed in the Mediterranean Basin. It is known for its fine flavour and could represent an important resource for cultivation programs in desert areas. Few molecular studies have been performed on this species. In the present paper, the ISSR technique was employed to study genetic diversity in Italian A. acutifolius.ResultsTwenty-three primers produced a total of 228 polymorphic fragments used to evaluate genetic variation. FST (0.4561) and Theta B (0.4776) values indicate a wide genetic variation among the samples examined. The distance UPGMA tree grouped together the genotypes strictly according to their geographical origin, showing that each sample is genetically structured and can be considered a distinct population. AMOVA analysis further confirmed genetic structuring of the populations. Population-specific fragments were also detected.ConclusionThe results suggest that ISSR markers are useful in distinguishing the populations of A. acutifolius according to geographical origin, and confirm the importance of genetic studies for designing germplasm conservation strategies.
Highlights
Asparagus acutifolius L. is a dioecious and native plant species, widely distributed in the Mediterranean Basin
The results suggest that intersimple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers are useful in distinguishing the populations of A. acutifolius according to geographical origin, and confirm the importance of genetic studies for designing germplasm conservation strategies
We have shown that these markers revealed genetic variation among geographically separated samples of A. acutifolius in an Italian population
Summary
Asparagus acutifolius L. is a dioecious and native plant species, widely distributed in the Mediterranean Basin. It is known for its fine flavour and could represent an important resource for cultivation programs in desert areas. The ISSR technique was employed to study genetic diversity in Italian A. acutifolius. The availability of a variety of DNA markers, such as restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), simple sequence repeat (SSR) and intersimple sequence repeat (ISSR) has enabled researchers to investigate genetic diversity among various plant species across natural populations [1,2,3,4,5]. The exploration, evaluation, and conservation in situ and ex situ of genetic diversity in natural populations is imperative to guarantee sustainable development [10].
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