Genetic Diversity in Cynara cardunculus Determined by Sequence-related Amplified Polymorphism Markers
Twenty-six wild and cultivated accessions of cardoon [Cynara cardunculus L. var. sylvestris (Lam.) Fiori and C. cardunculus var. cardunculus L., respectively] and globe artichoke [C. cardunculus var. scolymus (L.) Fiori] were analyzed to evaluate genetic diversity using sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers. Eleven qualitative and quantitative traits were evaluated and euclidean distances among genotypes were calculated. A total of 15 primer pairs were initially assayed and seven of them were finally selected as a result of their consistent amplification together with the clear banding patterns obtained. Genetic distances were calculated according to standardized Jaccard's distance index. Both matrices were subjected to cluster analysis. Dendrograms showed that cardoons were clearly separated from artichoke. These results showed that SRAP markers will be useful tools for studying genetic diversity in C. cardunculus.