Caratterizzazione molecolare e tecnologica di varietà locali e commerciali cece.

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is one of the major grain legumes and represents an important source of plant protein. A study on the distribution of genetic variation in six local varieties, three lines and six cultivars was undertaken using microsatellite (SSR) markers. Ten individuals for each landrace and line were analysed. Sixteen primer pairs, reported to amplify microsatellite regions in chickpea were selected from the published literature. One primer for each pair was fluorescently labelled, so that amplified fragments could be visualized on an automated sequencer. A total of 150 alleles were scored, ranging from 2 to 18 alleles per locus. The diversity parameters were calculated using PopGene software, and resulted to be very low for the selected lines and the cultivars. On the other hand, the chickpea landraces showed quite high values for all the genetic diversity parameters. These results indicate that the examined landraces retain a high level of genetic diversity. Microsatellite allele frequencies were used to calculate Nei's genetic distances, and a UPGMA dendrogram was constructed. As a general rule, chickpea landraces were grouped together, separately from cultivars. In order to evaluate the technological properties of the studied materials, the following parameters were scored: coat percentage, cooking time, hydration index, swelling index, rate of hydration.