Bio-agronomical and molecular characterization of selected clones in the early sicilian globe artichoke landrace 'violetto di sicilia'

In Sicily, the increasing use of exotic globe artichoke germplasm is eroding the presence of autochthonous landraces, including the long established 'Violetto di Sicilia'. Ten clones have emerged from a clonal selection program in this landrace, and here we describe their variation at the level of AFLP-based genotype and phenotypically with respect to key productivity traits, on the basis of two seasonal experiments. Two clones yielded particularly well in both growing seasons, while another pair produced particularly large heads and a high receptacle incidence. Yield, the number of heads per plant and receptacle incidence were associated with a moderate broad sense heritability, indicating that these traits could be successfully improved by phenotype-based clonal selection. A principal component analysis (PCA) based on the AFLP fingerprints was used to compare the selected clones with a set of individuals chosen on the basis of maximum genetic diversity. This comparison suggested that the new clone set was representative of the genetic variation present in 'Violetto di Sicilia', because the diversity captured by the two sets was largely overlapping, confirming the possibility of carrying out clonal selection in this globe artichoke landrace without compromising its preservation in situ.