Articles
TRADITIONAL CHESTNUT CULTIVARS IN SOUTHERN SPAIN: A CASE OF ENDANGERED GENETIC RESOURCES
Article number
866_15
Pages
143 – 149
Language
English
Abstract
In Andalusia (southern Spain), chestnut is cultivated for fruit in plantations with traditional cultivars grafted onto seedling rootstocks.
It is considered an agro-environmental crop because it contributes to the landscape maintenance and generates income that helps to sustain the rural population.
This system is a good example of on-farm conservation, although it is endangered because some of these cultivars, represented by few trees, are being lost.
The objective of the study was to evaluate the genetic diversity of these minor cultivars and characterise them with the purpose of providing useful information to farmers and laying the bases for their conservation.
For this, 27 minor cultivars were characterized by morphological traits and SSRs markers, and their genetic diversity was compared with the whole set of cultivars identified in the region.
Fifty-three alleles were identified by SSRs markers, 31 of which were exclusive (8 in Huelva and 23 in Malaga). The results showed that these cultivars represent a very important part of the genetic diversity of the region.
All this indicates that chestnut in southern Spain constitutes a genuine system of on-farm conservation in which farmers allow the evolutionary process to maintain and create diversity.
Nevertheless, it is currently threatened due to the loss of cultivars and these genetic resources could disappear in short time in case policies to guarantee the safeguard of this material are not carried out.
It is considered an agro-environmental crop because it contributes to the landscape maintenance and generates income that helps to sustain the rural population.
This system is a good example of on-farm conservation, although it is endangered because some of these cultivars, represented by few trees, are being lost.
The objective of the study was to evaluate the genetic diversity of these minor cultivars and characterise them with the purpose of providing useful information to farmers and laying the bases for their conservation.
For this, 27 minor cultivars were characterized by morphological traits and SSRs markers, and their genetic diversity was compared with the whole set of cultivars identified in the region.
Fifty-three alleles were identified by SSRs markers, 31 of which were exclusive (8 in Huelva and 23 in Malaga). The results showed that these cultivars represent a very important part of the genetic diversity of the region.
All this indicates that chestnut in southern Spain constitutes a genuine system of on-farm conservation in which farmers allow the evolutionary process to maintain and create diversity.
Nevertheless, it is currently threatened due to the loss of cultivars and these genetic resources could disappear in short time in case policies to guarantee the safeguard of this material are not carried out.
Publication
Authors
M.A. Martin, J.B. Alvarez, L.M. Martin, C. Mattioni, M. Cherubini, F. Villani, J.C. Ruiz
Keywords
Castanea sativa, on-farm conservation, SSR, landraces, genetic variability
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