Genetic relationships of Brassica vegetables and wild relatives in Southern Italy determined by five SSR

Five Simple Sequence Repeat were used to assess the genetic similarity between 50 B. oleracea cultivars and wild Brassica species, belonging to two varietal groups (cauliflower and broccoli). The genetic divergence between the groups of accessions was estimated using the FST statistic, and a dendrogram of relationships was produced. All broccoli cultivars clustered with cauliflower cultivars as expected. Major genetic differences were found within the wild species. The phylogenetic analysis grouped the wild species within the same cluster.