Determination of the genetic relatedness of fig (Ficus carica L.) accessions using RAPD fingerprint and their agro-morphological characterization

• Agronomical and pomological characterization of fig accessions.
• Potential use of local accessions to improve the supply of niche products.
• Molecular characterizaion of fig accessions by RAPD.
• Proper management of fig germplasm.

Fig cultivation is widespread in Campania, but its production assumes economic relevance mainly in Cilento-Salerno area, thanks to the production of Fico Bianco del Cilento DOP.According to Convention on Biological Diversity, the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture are required for sustainable agriculture and food security (CBD, 1992).Following these considerations, a research was carried out to collect and characterize the fig germplasm of “Parco Nazionale del Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni”, in order to safeguard genetic resources of this area in relation to the plant breeders' needs and other users.The accessions collected were characterized for bio-agronomical and pomological features. Moreover, a molecular characterization was performed using RAPD molecular markers. Some of the characterized accessions show pomological and organoleptic characteristic of interest for growers, breeders and for food-processing industry.A total of 16 RAPD primers produced 278 reproducible bands of which 220 (79.13%) were polymorphic. Genetic analysis, estimated by the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic averaging (UPGMA), revealed the genetic structure and relationships among the local and reference germplasm. Twelve Italian fig ecotypes were characterized by RAPD analysis, showing that this is an efficient method to evaluate the Campania fig tree diversity for ex-situ conservation.