Castanea sativa Mill. shows a high variability in eco-morphological traits, vegetative and reproductive habits, wood characteristics, adaptability, and resistance to natural stresses. The present range of distribution of the species has been strongly influenced by human migrations: Romans played a crucial role in the spread of the cultivation in Europe, although in some areas there is also evidence of local domestication and spontaneous spread of the tree. In the South of Switzerland (Canton Ticino), the debate about the origin of the local germplasm (derivation from the survival, spontaneous migration of C. sativa on the territory, or introduction of the tree by Roman colonization) is still open. The aims of this study was to present the chestnut genetic situation in Canton Ticino as a contribution to the debate about the native character of the species. ThreeC. sativa populations were sampled and analyzed at 9 SSR loci. Populations showed a high degree of diversity, as observed in most natural population of tree-species: all nine SSR loci were polymorphic (no fixed alleles were detected), and genetic diversity, measured by expected heterozygosity, ranged between 0.647 and 0.721 (mean values). Results suggested that three homogeneous gene pools contributed to theformation of the considered populations. The genetic structuring was very mild in the Canton Ticino chestnut population, as already observed by the relatively low levels of differentiation and divergence among sites.
CHESTNUT GENETIC DIVERSITY IN CANTON TICINO (SWITZERLAND)
Beccaro Gabriele Loris;Torello-marinoni Daniela;Boccacci Paolo;Mellano Maria Gabriella;Botta Roberto;Donno Dario;Cerutti Alessandro Kim;
2017
Abstract
Castanea sativa Mill. shows a high variability in eco-morphological traits, vegetative and reproductive habits, wood characteristics, adaptability, and resistance to natural stresses. The present range of distribution of the species has been strongly influenced by human migrations: Romans played a crucial role in the spread of the cultivation in Europe, although in some areas there is also evidence of local domestication and spontaneous spread of the tree. In the South of Switzerland (Canton Ticino), the debate about the origin of the local germplasm (derivation from the survival, spontaneous migration of C. sativa on the territory, or introduction of the tree by Roman colonization) is still open. The aims of this study was to present the chestnut genetic situation in Canton Ticino as a contribution to the debate about the native character of the species. ThreeC. sativa populations were sampled and analyzed at 9 SSR loci. Populations showed a high degree of diversity, as observed in most natural population of tree-species: all nine SSR loci were polymorphic (no fixed alleles were detected), and genetic diversity, measured by expected heterozygosity, ranged between 0.647 and 0.721 (mean values). Results suggested that three homogeneous gene pools contributed to theformation of the considered populations. The genetic structuring was very mild in the Canton Ticino chestnut population, as already observed by the relatively low levels of differentiation and divergence among sites.
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