Molecular, morphological and yield variation among and within populations of globe artichoke, cv "Spinoso sardo"

The aim of this study was to measure molecular variation, using RAPD, as well as checking morphological and yield variation of artichoke heads in five populations of ‘Spinoso sardo’, the most widely grown and economically important cultivar in Sardinia (Italy). Considerable variation was observed for most of the morphological and yield characters studied. Analysis of molecular data showed significant dissimilarities between population. High level of variation within population was also detected, possibly as a consequence of the multiclonal composition of the populations but might also be due to mutations occurring over time (chromosomal aberrations, aneuploidy, polyploidy etc) which have been selected and vegetatively propagated together with non-variant plants. Our results show the need to apply clonal selection to narrow the broad genetic variability within the cultivar and provide uniform and selected material to farmers. They in turn provide useful information for the definition of the cultivar ideotype and address important questions on the most suitable strategies for germplasm preservation and cultivar fingerprinting.