Variable rDNA regions provide suggestions on artichoke domestication and evolutionary history.

The genus Cynara L., Asteraceae, is distributed mainly in the Mediterranean region and includes eight species. The cultivated artichoke and the cultivated leafy cardoon are two varieties belonging to the species Cynara cardunculus, also containing the wild variety C. cardunculus var. sylvestris, which is fully interfertile with the cultivated types and is therefore considered the direct progenitor of the cultigroup. The phyletic relationships among the species of this genus are still not completely understood, although examined by various authors using different approaches. Moreover, the domestication of the two crops is still largely indefinite. In order to contribute to a better understanding of the phylogeny of the genus Cynara as a whole and in particular of the origin of the two cultivated forms, a study of the nucleotide sequence divergence of parts of the rDNA, namely ITS1, ITS2 and a portion of the ETS was undertaken. The results clearly indicate that the C. cardunculus group is more evolved with respect to the other wild species of Cynara. Nevertheless, some relationships remain unclear; the presence of specific autapomorphisms in the cultivated artichoke suggests an influence of the domestication process on its evolutionary history.