Summary Orobanche foetida is widely distributed in western Mediterranean countries infecting wild legumes. Recently it has been reported in Morocco infecting common vetch, presenting a further constraint for legume production in this area. Comparative studies between Orobanche populations attacking wild species and Orobanche populations growing on crops from the same region may help to clarify whether a host specialisation process occurred. In the present study, the genetic variability of five O. foetida populations, four infecting wild plants and one infecting cultivated vetch in Morocco was characterised using amplified fragment‐length polymorphism (AFLP) markers to elucidate the existing genetic relationship between populations and to suggest a potential origin for the recently detected vetch‐infecting population. Analysis of molecular variance suggested the existence of genotypic differentiation among populations. The most genetic divergent population by cluster analysis was the population collected on Ornithopus sativus. The vetch‐infecting O. foetida population was closer to the three populations infecting Scorpiurus muricatus. The possibility of the presence of a reservoir of diversity is balanced against direct genetic adaptation and completely new introduction. The potential for this Orobanche species to shift host and become a threat to agriculture exists and has to be taken into account for future legume breeding for these areas.

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Orobanche cumana is a holoparasitic plant naturally distributed from central Asia to south-eastern Europe, where it parasitizes wild Asteraceae species. It is also an important parasitic weed of sunflower crops. The objective of this research was to investigate genetic diversity, population structure, and virulence on sunflower of O. cumana populations parasitizing wild plants in eastern Bulgaria. Fresh tissue of eight O. cumana populations and mature seeds of four of them were collected in situ on wild hosts. Genetic diversity and population structure were studied with SSR markers and compared to weedy populations. Two main gene pools were identified in Bulgarian populations, with most of the populations having intermediate characteristics. Cross-inoculation experiments revealed that O. cumana populations collected on wild species possessed similar ability to parasitize sunflower to those collected on sunflower. The results were explained on the basis of an effective genetic exchange between populations parasitizing sunflower crops and those parasitizing wild species. The occurrence of bidirectional gene flow may have an impact on wild populations, as new physiological races continuously emerge in weedy populations. Also, genetic variability of wild populations may favour the ability of weedy populations to overcome sunflower resistance mechanisms.

The systematic treatment of Orobanche cumana Wallr. and 0. cemua L. is contra\ ersial. LVhcrcas some authors consider 0. cumana as an infraspecific taxon of 0. cenizia, othcrs treat it as a separate species. Furthermore, thc nomenclature of the sunflower broomrape is unclear, and both name, arc found without qualification in the literature. The objective of the present study has bcen to evaluate the distribution, morpholon, and ecolou of 0. cmiua and 0. cumana in the Iberian Peninsula, as well as their seed oil fatty acid profile, which is a trait of

The common fig tree (Ficus carica L.) is a Mediterranean crop with problematic cultivar identification. The recovery and conservation of possible local varieties for ecological production requires the previous genetic characterization of the available germplasm. In this context, 42 lines corresponding to 12 local varieties and two caprifigs, in addition to 15 reference samples have been fingerprinted using 21 SSR markers. A total of 77 alleles were revealed, detecting a useful level of genetic variability within the local germplasm pools. UPGMA clustering analysis has revealed the genetic structure and relationships among the local and reference germplasm. Eleven of the local varieties could be identified and defined as obtained clusters, showing that SSR analysis is an efficient method to evaluate the Andalusian fig tree diversity for on-farm conservation.