Characterization of a Spanish Brassica oleracea collection by using molecular and biochemical markers

- Geographic distance and isolation promoted genetic differences among varieties.
- Glucosinolates profile follows a geographic pattern.
- Peninsular and insular varieties had different glucosinolate profile.
- Three varieties are postulated as candidates to use in breeding programs.

Brassica oleracea landraces are widely grown in northwestern Spain but also in other regions of the Spanish territory like the Canary Islands, where environmental conditions are very different from the peninsular ones. A collection of B. oleracea accessions from different Spanish locations is kept at the germplasm bank of Misión Biológica de Galicia (MBG, Spain). Considering that B. oleracea is the most diverse species within the Brassica genus, the study of these accessions is crucial to ensure the availability for breeding programs as a genetic variability source. In order to assess the genetic and biochemical diversity across this collection, we used simple sequence repeats (SSR) as molecular markers and the glucosinolate content and profile as a chemical marker. We concluded that there are significant genetic differences among accessions and that they are grouped by the same geographical provenance. Furthermore, different glucosinolate profiles were observed between peninsular and insular accessions, thus supporting the results obtained in the genetic analysis. Moreover, we identified accessions with a high GSL content as potential candidates to be used in breeding programs in order to obtain GSL-rich accessions.