Garden asparagus (Asparagus officinalisL.) is a diploid (2n = 2x = 20), perennial and dioecious species belonging toAsparagussubgenus and worldwide cultivated as a vegetable crop. A narrow genetic base has been pointed out for the current cultivars. Crop wild related species (CWR) could be a valuable genetic resource in this crop but they have been underused up to now. To investigate the phylogenetic relationships between CWR asparagus species from different origin andA. officinalisL., 12 EST-SSR markers were used to assess the genetic variability of 20 accessions. These accessions belong to 10Asparagusspp. fromAsparagussubgenus including wild and naturalizedA. officinalisL. (2x, 4x, 8x, 10x) and CWR species with European (A. tenuifoliusLam. (2x),A. pseudoscaberGrec. (6x),A. macrorrhizusPedrol & al. (12x), A. prostratusDumort (4x),A. brachyphyllusTurcz. (6x),A. maritimus(L.) Mill. (6x)) and Asian distribution (A. verticillatusL. (2x), A. persicusBaker (2x),A. breslerianusSchult. & Schult. (8x)).A. albusL. (2x) from theProtasparagussubgenus was used as outgroup. As a result, a total of 248 alleles were obtained and specific alleles of accessions were detected among them. After cluster analysis the accessions did not group by their geographical origin. All wild polyploid accessions with European and Asian distributions were grouped together withA. officinalisL. Hence, that cluster could be considered as the ‘officinalisgroup’ suggesting a monophyletic origin. The diploid accessions ofA. verticillatusL. andA. persicusBaker clustered together and were the most genetically distant respect to ‘officinalisgroup’. The results obtained in this study may provide useful information to design new crosses among accessions aimed to develop new asparagus germplasm or pre-breeding populations.

The evaluation of A. cepa biodiversity provides onion breeders with great prospects to obtain plants with high resistance to environmental factors, remarkable yield, and product quality. Genetic diversity assessment of a collection of nine short- and long-day onion landraces and varieties originated from different Iranian regions, using ISSR markers and UPGMA dendrograms, was carried out for the first time. Short-day landraces (Sarze, Sarkoreh, and Kerman) originated from low latitude and short-day hybrids (Mirela and Soberana) demonstrated high genetic similarity, in terms of physiological responses to day length and temperature during the crop cycle and bulbing stage initiation. Contrarily, high latitude landraces (Azarshahr, White Gorgan, Kurdistan, and Esfahan) showed low biometrical, agronomic and genetic similarity with commercial short-day onions. Specific differences in morphological reactions between these two groups displayed diverse responses of plants to day length and temperature. Long- and short-day cultivars displayed significant differences in the dynamics of leaf and scale number, leaf and root length, dry and fresh weight, and bulbing ratio and bulb diameter, which were in accordance with ISSR data. The local landraces Azarshahr, Kurdistan, and Esfahan had high antioxidant status, suggesting high prospects for their utilization as an alternative to foreign F₁ hybrid varieties.

In vitro culture of twin-scaling explants of Galanthus transcaucasicus with different concentrations of plant growth regulators (PGRs) including 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 10 mg L-1 naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and 0.5, 1, 2, 3, and 4 mg L-1 benzyladenine (BA) was studied. After 18 weeks, the number of regenerated bulblets and intensity of callus was measured. Subsequently, bulblets were transferred to a medium with 0.5, 1, 2, 3, and 4 mg L-1 NAA and 0.5, 1, 2, 3, and 4 mg L-1 BA and, after 15 weeks, the bulblets length and diameter were measured. The highest intensity of callus was obtained on 4 mg L-1 NAA or 8 mg L-1 NAA with 1 mg L-1 BA. The highest number of regenerated bulblets was detected with 6 mg L-1 NAA and 2 mg L-1 BA. The highest diameter of bulblets occurred on four mgL-1 NAA (9.4 mm), while the lowest was observed on 0.5 mg L-1 BA (1.83 mm). The analysis of genetic variation using ISSR revealed that there was no somaclonal variation among the regenerated plants from BA and low level of NAA, but there was a significant somaclonal variation at high concentrations of NAA.

Extended Abstract Background: The reduction of genetic diversity in tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.), caused by domestication and breeding, has necessitated the use of all available genetic resources. Limiting cultivated tomato cultivars to modified cultivars and reducing genetic diversity are not desirable and cause production vulnerability and instability. Native populations can ...