SNP Diversity and Genetic Structure of “Rogosija”, an Old Western Balkan Durum Wheat Collection
Ana Velimirović,
Zoran Jovović,
Dragan Perović,
Heike Lehnert,
Sanja Mikić,
Dragan Mandić,
Novo Pržulj,
Giacomo Mangini,
Mariella Matilde Finetti-Sialer
Affiliations
Ana Velimirović
Biotechnical Faculty Podgorica, University of Montenegro, Mihaila Lalića 15, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro
Zoran Jovović
Biotechnical Faculty Podgorica, University of Montenegro, Mihaila Lalića 15, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro
Dragan Perović
Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Resistance Research and Stress Tolerance, Julius Kuehn-Institute, Erwin-Baur-Strasse 27, 06484 Quedlinburg, Germany
Heike Lehnert
Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Biosafety in Plant Biotechnology, Julius Kuehn-Institute, Erwin-Baur-Strasse 27, 06484 Quedlinburg, Germany
Sanja Mikić
Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, Maksima Gorkog 30, 21101 Novi Sad, Serbia
Dragan Mandić
Agricultural Institute of Republika Srpska, Knjaza Miloša 17, 78000 Banja Luka, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Novo Pržulj
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Banjaluka, Bulevar vojvode P. Bojovića 1a, 78000 Banja Luka, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Giacomo Mangini
Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources, National Research Council (IBBR-CNR), Via Amendola 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy
Mariella Matilde Finetti-Sialer
Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources, National Research Council (IBBR-CNR), Via Amendola 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy
Durum wheat landraces represent a genetic resource for the identification and isolation of new valuable genes and alleles, useful to increase the crop adaptability to climate change. Several durum wheat landraces, all denominated “Rogosija”, were extensively cultivated in the Western Balkan Peninsula until the first half of the 20th century. Within the conservation program of the Montenegro Plant Gene Bank, these landraces were collected, but without being characterized. The main goal of this study was to estimate the genetic diversity of the “Rogosija collection” consisting of 89 durum accessions, using 17 morphological descriptors and the 25K Illumina single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array. The genetic structure analysis of the Rogosija collection showed two distinguished clusters localized in two different Montenegro eco-geographic micro-areas, characterized by continental Mediterranean climate and maritime Mediterranean climate. Data suggest that these clusters could be composed of two different Balkan durum landrace collections evolved in two different eco-geographic micro-areas. Moreover, the origin of Balkan durum landraces is discussed.
