conference schedule and program with abstracts - Horticulture ...
conference schedule and program with abstracts - Horticulture ...
conference schedule and program with abstracts - Horticulture ...
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P-68<br />
Italian wild grapevine: a state of the art on germplasm <strong>and</strong> conservation in 2010, the Year<br />
of Biodiversity<br />
S. Imazio * , B. Biagini, G. De Lorenzis, A. Scienza, O. Failla<br />
Dipartimento di Produzione Vegetale, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy <br />
<br />
*Corresponding author: serena.imazio@unimi.it<br />
Vitis vinifera sylvestris is the wild progenitor of cultivated grapevine. Wild grapevine<br />
populations are part of the European woodl<strong>and</strong>s. In some countries wild grapevine is considered<br />
on the brink of extinction. In 2006 the Italian Ministry of Environment funded a research project<br />
aiming to the creation of a germplasm collection of wild grapevines pooled from Italian existing<br />
populations. The project involved the Milano University <strong>and</strong> the Cinque Terre National Park<br />
which is characterized by an agricultural l<strong>and</strong>scape made up of terraces cultivated once almost<br />
exclusively by vines held up by stone walls. Today most of the terraces are still present but are at<br />
constant risk of l<strong>and</strong>slides due to their ab<strong>and</strong>onment. Cinque Terre was designated a UNESCO<br />
world heritage site for its l<strong>and</strong>scape agriculture <strong>and</strong> for the need of preservation of its cultural,<br />
environmental, local <strong>and</strong> historical values. One of the purposes of the collection inserted in this<br />
frame is to recover a part of the ab<strong>and</strong>oned terraces. Moreover the experimental vineyard has<br />
both the characteristics of in situ <strong>and</strong> ex situ collection <strong>and</strong> is dedicated to researchers interested<br />
in the study of the genetic structure of wild grapevine, both for population genetics <strong>and</strong> for<br />
studies regarding gene diversity (in the wild <strong>and</strong> cultivated compartment). For this reason 600<br />
samples representative of Italian wild grapevine populations widely dispersed in woodl<strong>and</strong>s have<br />
been collected. At this time 300 among these are already in the collection <strong>and</strong> have been<br />
genotyped at 20 SSR loci both, to have a correct fingerprint of all the accessions <strong>and</strong> to avoid<br />
mistakes during samplings. Based on molecular data <strong>and</strong> on the comparison <strong>with</strong> previous<br />
censuses some considerations about the genetic structure <strong>and</strong> conservation of Italian wild<br />
grapevine populations <strong>and</strong> their level of introgression <strong>with</strong> Italian cultivated germplasm have<br />
been made. In the next years the collection will be monitored to collect data regarding phenology<br />
<strong>and</strong> possible pest tolerance; <strong>and</strong> to improve knowledge on genetic traits differentially expressed<br />
in the two subspecies. In the year devoted to biodiversity, this collection has the intent to<br />
highlight two important features: one related to the safeguard of an harsh l<strong>and</strong> imprinted <strong>and</strong><br />
tamed by agricultural activities <strong>and</strong> human labour; the other devoted to the underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>and</strong><br />
use of the genetic resources present in the wild grapevine compartment evolved in a natural<br />
environment untouched by human activities.<br />
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