ISHS Acta Horticulturae 623: XXVI International Horticultural Congress: Plant Genetic Resources, The Fabric of Horticulture's Future
EVALUATION OF FRUIT TREE GENETIC RESOURCES IN A MEDITERRANEAN SECONDARY CENTER OF BIODIVERSITY |
| Authors: | I. Chessa, G. Nieddu |
| Keywords: | phenotypic variability, crop wild relatives, genetic erosion |
| Abstract:
A large group of uncultivated or underutilized plant species, as well as major staple crops, represent a source of genetic variability which can ensure the sustainable use of the plant in human consumption. For each crop there are one or more primary centers of origin and from where the crops were dispersed long-range thus creating secondary centers of genetic variability in new diffusion areas. The presence of wild relatives in each diversity area and the continuous flow of genes among and within plant species determined crop evolution and the rise of new genetic variability. Recently loss in genetic diversity has been outlined mainly in intensively cultivated areas, while reduced erosion has been observed in protected habitat such as islands. Sardinia is one of the secondary diversity centers of plant species which have evolved by adaptation to the Mediterranean environment, where a large number of genotypes of different fruit tree species have been collected and described. In this work results are reported from a long-term survey carried out to increase knowledge on the diversity of the genetic resources for food. Ten fruit tree species have been evaluated on the level of their genetic diversity. Some are major staple crops such as olive and grape, others such as almond, cherry, plum, fig, apple and pear are nowadays less cultivated, and still others have been more recently introduced like apricot and cactus pear. The degree of conservation of Sardinian landraces and local varieties was the highest in olive, fig, grape and pear. | |
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