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RRESENmA:'J10NS 23PresentationsCharacterization and conservation of Quercus subergermplasmin ItalyRosanna BelIarosa and Bartolomeo SchironeDip. di Scienze dell'Ambiente Forestale e delle sue Risorse, Universita della Tuscia, .01100 Viterbo, ItalyIntroductionIn Italy, cork oak covers an area of around 90000 ha and the total cork productionamounts to 6000 t/year. The species is present in Sardinia, Sicily, along theTyrrhenian coast from Liguria to Calabria and in Apulia.Up to now, no broad studies have been carried out on the genetic variability ofItalian cork oak. Recently, characterization of several Italian provenances ofQuercus suber L. has been started to define the most appropriate strategies forgenetic conservation (Bellarosa et al. 1993, 1996).Moreover, investigations on Quercus crenata Lam., a supposed natural hybridbetween Q. suber and Quercus cerris L., have been initiated. Part of the results ofthese analyses, which were supported by an EEC-FOREST project, are reportedhere.MaterialQuercus suber material was sampled in the following sites (Fig. 1):Viterbo and Circeo (Latium)Elba island and Suvereto (Tuscany)Bultei, Pattada and Berchidda (Sardinia)Lucci, Paticchi, Cerrito and Pignicella (Apulia).Quercus crenata was collected in three sites (Fig. 1):Viterbo and Castelporziano (Latium)Follonica (Tuscany).Comparative analyses were carried out using seed storage proteins and rDNAgenes as markers.