ISSR markers show differentiation among Italian populations of Asparagus acutifolius L.
BACKGROUND
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. 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.


RESULTS
Twenty-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.


CONCLUSIONS
The 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.
Sica
Maria
M
Dipartimento di Genetica, Biologia generale e molecolare, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, via Mezzocannone 8, 80134 Napoli, Italy. sica@biol.dgbm.unina.it <sica@biol.dgbm.unina.it>
Gamba
Graziella
G
Montieri
Stefania
S
Gaudio
Luciano
L
Aceto
Serena
S
D027761:Asparagus Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D005819:Genetic Markers; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005843:Geography; D007558:Italy; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid
D018744:DNA, Plant; D005819:Genetic Markers