Savoia Michele Antonio, Del Faro Loredana, Venerito Pasquale, Gaeta Liliana, Palasciano Marino, Montemurro Cinzia, Sabetta Wilma
Department of Soil, Plant and Food Sciences, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Amendola 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy.
CRSFA-Centro Ricerca, Sperimentazione e Formazione in Agricoltura "Basile Caramia", Via Cisternino 281, 70010 Locorotondo, Italy.
Plants (Basel). 2022 Feb 21;11(4):574. doi: 10.3390/plants11040574.
Almond cultivation has great traditional and economic relevance in Southern Italy, especially in the Apulia region, where almond trees feature an ample and ancient varietal richness. To contrast the loss of plant genetic erosion and to safeguard the available bioresources, as well as to reinforce the local production, the regional Re.Ge.Fru.P. project aimed to re-evaluate, identify, and characterize the Apulian almond germplasm that is still uncharacterized and not jet studied using a dual (genetic and morphological) approach. Collection was conducted in the regional territory of 187 among the most widespread and minor or marginalized genotypes that were molecularly fingerprinted by means of 18 nuclear microsatellites (simple sequence repeats, SSRs). The high number of scored alleles reflected the great level of diversification within the Apulian germplasm, as also confirmed by neighbor joining and structure analysis, that clearly distinguished different genotype clusters. The phenotypic characterization using 17 morphological and phenological descriptors mirrored the genetic results, revealing a high degree of variability. The morphological traits with the best discriminatory ability were nut ventral suture, shell softness and shape and petal color. This work emphasizes the importance of recovering the genetic variability of Apulian almond germplasm, and the need to promote added value and enhance the local agri-food economy.
杏仁种植在意大利南部具有重大的传统和经济意义，尤其是在普利亚地区，那里的杏仁树具有丰富且古老的品种多样性。为了应对植物遗传侵蚀的损失、保护现有的生物资源以及加强当地生产，地区性的Re.Ge.Fru.P.项目旨在采用双重（遗传和形态学）方法重新评估、识别和表征普利亚地区仍未被表征且尚未研究的杏仁种质。在该地区收集了187种分布最广以及较少见或边缘化的基因型，通过18个核微卫星（简单序列重复，SSRs）对其进行分子指纹识别。大量的计分等位基因反映了普利亚种质内的高度多样化水平，邻接法和结构分析也证实了这一点，这些分析清晰地区分了不同的基因型簇。使用17个形态学和物候学描述符进行的表型特征分析反映了遗传结果，揭示了高度的变异性。具有最佳鉴别能力的形态学特征是坚果腹缝线、外壳柔软度和形状以及花瓣颜色。这项工作强调了恢复普利亚杏仁种质遗传变异性的重要性，以及促进附加值和增强当地农业食品经济的必要性。
