Microsatellite analyses for evaluation of genetic diversity among Sicilian grapevine cultivars

Abstract

A total of 82 grapevine genotypes were sampled from several areas of the Italian region of Sicily where vineyards are widely spread. The grapevines were characterized using six microsatellite markers (VVS2, VVMD5, VVMD7, VVMD27, VrZAG62 and VrZAG79) to evaluate genetic diversity. Thirty-seven of the 82 cultivars sampled had their names quoted in historical and literary sources, while 45 cultivars from old vineyards did not have their names reported in ancient literature. According to their genetic profiles at SSR loci, 70 different cultivars were found, while interesting cases of synonymies (Regina and Moscato bianco, Alicante and Dolcetta or among different clones of Zibibbo and Catarratto) and cases of homonymy (Frappato and Nerello Mascalese) were discovered. Several genetic parameters were calculated to assess the efficacy of the loci chosen in this work. Pairwise genetic distances between all cultivars were calculated. A dendrogram representing the genetic similarities among cultivars was depicted using the UPGMA method to investigate their relationships, explaining them from a historical point of view. The cluster distribution of cultivars clearly does not reflect their current geographical distribution, suggesting successive introductions of cultivars in Sicily from different areas of origin.

Urgent need for preservation of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L. subsp. vinifera) germplasm from small circum-Sicilian islands as revealed by SSR markers and traditional use investigations

“…While we found commonalities with Carimi et al (2010) (Catarratto, Diretta bianca, Inzolia, Lacrime i Maria, Rucignola and Zibibbo), but none with De Lorenzis et al (2014), the vast majority (69 out of 75) of the varieties found in the circum-Sicilian minor islands were not reported until now in mainland Sicily. This study confirms that the minor islands of the Mediterranean Basin still represent underexplored hotspots of genetic diversity for grapevine.…”

High-throughput 18K SNP array to assess genetic variability of the main grapevine cultivars from Sicily

“…Since the Vitis18kSNP array contains about 25 % of loci identified from different Vitis species (V. aestivalis, V. berlandierii, V. labrusca, V. cinerea, V. lincecumi, and Muscadinia rotundifolia), the percentage of SNP loci (3 %) showing any fragment amplification appeared reasonable, as compared to previous reports (Bekele et al 2013;De Lorenzis et al 2015). The percentage of polymorphic loci was high, and the values of heterozygosity (expected, H e and observed, H o ), very similar among them, lower than those reported for Sicilian collections analyzed by SSR markers (Carimi et al 2010;De Lorenzis et al 2014). These results are expected due to the bi-allelic nature of SNPs, although the higher discriminating powerful through the larger number of loci analyzed.…”

“…plantnet-project.org). In the context of the clonal selection program in Sicily, the genetic variability among the main cultivars was assessed based also on selected SSR panel (Carimi et al 2010(Carimi et al , 2011De Lorenzis et al 2014).…”

Intra-varietal genetic diversity of the grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) cultivar ‘Nero d’Avola’ as revealed by microsatellite markers

“…The long history of cultivation has led to a high number of autochthonous grapevine varieties, which represents an important source of genetic diversity. Accordingly, Sicilian varieties are characterized by high variability (Carimi et al 2010), having been subjected to mass selection by growers for centuries.…”