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 - 4.03

Characterization and Assessment of genetic diversity in italian emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum) Landraces

Mondini L.*, Porfiri O.**, Nachit M. M.***, Pagnotta M. A. *

*) Dipartimernto di Agrobiologia e Agrochimica, Università della Tuscia, Via S.C. de Lellis, 01100 Viterbo

**) Agronomist, Dipartimento di Biologia Vegetale e Biotecnologie Agroambientali, Università degli Studi di Perugia, B.go XX Giugno 74, 06100 Perugia

***) ICARDA, P.O. Box 5466 Aleppo, Syria

hulled wheats, Triticum dicoccum, genetic resources, ISSR, RFLP

The most cultivated hulled wheats in the Mediterranean basin belong to three species: Triticum monococcum (einkorn, diploid), T. dicoccum (emmer, tetraploid) and Triticum spelta (spelt, exaploid). Their cultivation fell down drastically during the last Century due to their low productivity and to their hulled kernel. In the ’90s, some of positive aspects (agronomic traits and nutritive value) and the increasing market demand for diet products made economically interesting the cultivation particularly of emmer. This determined an increase of the cultivated area, which is now near to 2000 ha, cultivated mainly in marginal lands of Central and Southern Italy, where local varieties, adapted to the agro-climatic environments where they originated, are grown.

In the present work 36 local varieties of T. dicoccum from Central and Southern Italy have been characterized for agro-morphological aspects and at the molecular level using RFLP and ISSR markers. The analysed materials have shown distinctive molecular traits and the existence of a huge amount of genetic diversity between varieties. The assessment of the variation between the 36 local varieties and the evaluation of their genetic distances give information that will be useful for: i) the univocal characterization of each material; ii) the design of suitable strategies of in situ conservation and iii) the exploitation of this valuable source of emmer wheat germplasm in breeding programs.