The genus Cynara is mainly distributed in the Mediterranean Basin and in the Near East and includes two crops: artichoke (C. cardunculus var. scolymus), and leafy cardoon (C. cardunculus var. scolymus). The wild artichoke (C. cardunculus var. sylvestris) belongs to the same biological species and is considered the wild progenitor of the crops. The evolutionary history of artichoke and cultivated cardoon and their relationships to wild allies of the genus Cynara are still not fully understood. To try resolve the evolutionary patterns leading to the domestication of these two crops, a study of molecular evolution was undertaken. The analysis was performed on the crop-wild relative complex C. cardunculus together with four additional Cynara wild species, using rDNA ITS and ETS regions as markers of nuclear genome, and the chloroplast psbA-trnH spacer as a marker of the chloroplast genome. The sequences obtained were analysed using a molecular clock approach. The evolutionary pattern delineated for the genus Cynara and climatic history of the Mediterranean Basin during the last 20 millenia converge with the present geographic distribution of the species. In particular, C. humilis and C. cornigera appear to be the most ancient species, C. syriaca and C. baetica differentiated in a second period, whereas C. cardunculus revealed to be the most recent, plastic, and therefore diffused species. The artichoke and cardoon were probably domesticated in two separate events, differing in time and space.
Molecular evolution within Cynara: evidence for the domestication of artichoke and cardoon
Sonnante G;Pignone D
2006
Abstract
The genus Cynara is mainly distributed in the Mediterranean Basin and in the Near East and includes two crops: artichoke (C. cardunculus var. scolymus), and leafy cardoon (C. cardunculus var. scolymus). The wild artichoke (C. cardunculus var. sylvestris) belongs to the same biological species and is considered the wild progenitor of the crops. The evolutionary history of artichoke and cultivated cardoon and their relationships to wild allies of the genus Cynara are still not fully understood. To try resolve the evolutionary patterns leading to the domestication of these two crops, a study of molecular evolution was undertaken. The analysis was performed on the crop-wild relative complex C. cardunculus together with four additional Cynara wild species, using rDNA ITS and ETS regions as markers of nuclear genome, and the chloroplast psbA-trnH spacer as a marker of the chloroplast genome. The sequences obtained were analysed using a molecular clock approach. The evolutionary pattern delineated for the genus Cynara and climatic history of the Mediterranean Basin during the last 20 millenia converge with the present geographic distribution of the species. In particular, C. humilis and C. cornigera appear to be the most ancient species, C. syriaca and C. baetica differentiated in a second period, whereas C. cardunculus revealed to be the most recent, plastic, and therefore diffused species. The artichoke and cardoon were probably domesticated in two separate events, differing in time and space.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
