Caratterizzazione di tre ecotipi di Lens culinaris Medik. mediante marcatori molecolari AFLP e I-SSR

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) is an important grain legume cultivated worldwide as human food and dating back to pre-historic times. Social-economic changes, which occurred in the last 50 years in Italy, had conducted to drastic reduction of lentil cultivation (by 93%) resulting in the disappearance of several local populations and exposing the ones still in cultivation to a high risk of genetic erosion. In order to improve and to preserve biodiversity still present inside the current landraces we investigated the level of genetic variation within and among three of the most appreciated Italian common lentil ecotypes: Onano, Altamura and Villalba. Altamura, Onano and Villalba plants were analysed at individual level by flluorescence AFLP (Amplified Fragment Lenght Polymorphism) markers and in bulk using I-SSR (Inter-Simple Sequence Repeats) markers.