title: Population structure of Cynara cardunculus complex and the origin of the conspecific crops artichoke and cardoon.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Globe artichoke and leafy cardoon, two crops within the same species Cynara cardunculus, are traditionally cultivated in the Mediterranean region and play a significant role in the agricultural economy of this area. The two cultigens have different reproductive systems: artichoke is generally vegetatively propagated, while leafy cardoon is seed propagated. The domestication events underlying the origin of both artichoke and cultivated cardoon from their wild relative and the area of occurrence are not yet fully understood. The aim of this study was to investigate population structure in wild cardoon, globe artichoke and leafy cardoon material and infer domestication events.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-five microsatellite (simple sequence repeat) markers, distributed in the C. cardunculus genome, and a large geographical and numerical sampling in southern Europe and North Africa were used to assess population structure and diversity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results suggest the presence of two distinct domestication events for artichoke and leafy cardoon, and also suggest a new possible scenario, with western wild cardoon having originated from cultivated cardoon escaped from cultivation. Evidence was found for a demographic bottleneck in the past history of globe artichoke.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results shed new light on the relationships between the three taxa of C. cardunculus and highlight relevant aspects on the evolution of domestication of two crops with a different reproductive system within the same species. It is proposed that the probable centre of origin of artichoke is located in southern Italy, probably Sicily.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Genetics (IGV), National Research Council (CNR), Via Amendola 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gatto
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Paola
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bagnoli
authors.forename: Giovanni Giuseppe
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Vendramin
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sonnante
mesh_terms: D000352:Africa, Northern; D005075:Biological Evolution; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D031942:Cynara / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D031943:Cynara scolymus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D005060:Europe; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D005819:Genetic Markers / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D018745:Genome, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D005838:Genotype; D019083:Mediterranean Region; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers
keywords: Cynara cardunculus; SSR markers; bottleneck; clonal propagation; multiple domestication events; population structure; reproductive system