Ecotype-Level Genetic Biodiversity of Five Italian Traditional Crops

Italy displays a high level of agrobiodiversity due to its diversified pedoclimatic zones. The Administrative Region of Campania includes several and divergent biomes, occurring close to each other. In fact, the distance between a sea level environment and that of high mountains can be less than 20 km. These environmental conditions allow the cultivation of many different crops and vegetables, represented by diverse ecotypes and varieties that are well adapted to the distribution range where they have been selected and grown. Efforts to maintain and further increase biodiversity in farming systems require a better understanding of the existing diversity created by traditional farming practices. The aim of our study was to identify and molecularly characterize several ecotypes belonging to five horticultural species commonly cultivated in Campania. In particular, we analysed five ecotypes of maize, two of garlic, four of onion, one of escarole, and two of courgette by means of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers in order to evaluate their level of genetic biodiversity. The results reveal, for the first time, the high genetic biodiversity of horticultural ecotypes of the Campania Region. This feature is very important to improve the quality and productivity of agroecosystems.