Proceedings of the XLVI Italian Society of Agricultural Genetics - SIGA Annual Congress

Giardini Naxos, Italy - 18/21 September, 2002

ISBN 88-900622-3-1

Poster Abstract - 1.17

FIRST EVIDENCE OF SECONDARY GRAPEVINE DOMESTICATION CENTRE DETECTED BY SSR ANALYSYS

IMAZIO S.**, GRASSI F.*, SPADA A.*, SCIENZA A.**, CITTERIO S.***, LABRA M.***

*) Department of Biology, University of Milan, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milano, Italy.

**) Department of Crop Science, University of Milan, Via Celoria 2, 20133 Milano, Italy

***) Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, P.zza della Scienza 1 20126 Milano, Italy

SSR markers, plant domestication, Vitis vinifera L.

The origin of the grapevine was investigated with archaeobotanical, cultural and historical data. A primary domestication centre was located in the Near East region but there is no agreement on the existence or role of secondary domestication centres. In this work, PCR-based microsatellite analysis has been applied to study the origin of Italian cultivated grapevine from in situ direct domestication of the wild endogenous grapevine. Three different Italian locations in Grosseto, Cosenza and Nuoro were selected for this study and cultivated grapevine as well as wild local accessions growing in these location, were analysed by SSR markers. Cluster analysis performed on Cosenza and Grosseto samples showed a high value of genetic distance between cultivated and wild accessions. On the contrary in Nuoro, two cultivars were very close to some wild varieties. This suggests that these cultivars may have originated from wild grapevines and consequently that Nuoro may be a secondary grapevine domestication centre.

Six Lambrusco varieties were also included in our analysis as ancient putative cultivated ancestors. Data obtained excluded Lambrusco varieties as progenitors of the cultivated grapevine and suggest that Lambrusco were a “third subspecies”.