Molecular characterization of wild and cultural artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) growing in the western Akdeniz and Ege region

Artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) is included in Asteraceae family and its wild type can be found in various places in the world. The cultivation of artichoke is made especially in Mediterranean countries and several American countries. In our country, the cultivation of artichoke has been mostly concentrated in Aegean and Marmara regions, but it has been increased in Mediterranean region in recent years. Artichoke has the importance of the influence of the human body's physiological activities medically, besides its nutritional properties. Its wild versions are beneficial for human's health, and its flower parts are also used as ornamental plant. Identification and protection of its genetic sources defines the first step to determine the genetic variability. The findings obtained from morphology are used to differentiate the populations, however the morphological data are not sufficient due to some factors. The developments recorded by using molecular identifier method has presented powerful methods in determination, protection of genetic variability of plant groups and usage for improvement-intended. Molecular data that will be obtained in selection and improvement studies in the later years will contribute to improvement studies with more effective and faster progress as a guide in parental selection. With this study, the richness of artichoke regarding genetic sources is determined. This study will also contribute to the national and international works of literature with its consequences that will be obtained since the molecular characterization studies which are done with wild and culturable genotypes are limited. This study aimed to examine the genetic variability of 45 cultured and wild artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) genotypes picked from the Western Mediterranean and Aegean regions in Turkey by molecular analysis. iPBS and SSR-primers (Simple Sequence Repeat) were used for molecular characterization. As a result of PCR amplification with ten iPBS primers, a total of 198 bands were obtained and 140 of them were scored as polymorphic. As a result of PCR with six SSR primers, a total of 47 bands were obtained and all primers gave polymorphic bands. It was observed that the similarity index between genotypes varied between 0.52 and 1.00 as a result of the analyzes made with iPBS primers, and between 0.59 and 1.00 as a result of the analysis with SSR primers. In the dendrogram obtained based on the similarity indexes, it was observed that the wild genotypes were not grouped according to geographical regions or the height of the region, but partially grouped according to the number and size of flower heads.