GENETIC-RELATIONSHIPS OF PORTUGUESE COLES AND OTHER CLOSE RELATED BRASSICA GENOTYPES USING NUCLEAR RFLPS

Nuclear RFLPs were used to study the genetic relationships of 2 Portug uese coles, tronchuda cabbage and Galega kale, and 13 other Brassica o leracea cultivars and 4 nine-chromosome wild brassicas. Cluster and pr incipal coordinates analysis were conducted using RFLP data from 60 pr obe-enzyme combinations, detecting 277 polymorphic restriction fragmen ts. The results showed that the accessions clustered in five groups: o ne with all the B. oleracea cultivars except kailan, and the four othe rs isolated with kailan, wild B. oleracea, B. insularis and B. cretica , and B. montana, respectively. Kailan was separated from the other ac cessions of B. oleracea cultivars and genetically close to the wild B. oleracea, that was clearly separated from the other nine-chromosome w ild brassicas. In the B. oleracea cultivars 3 groupings were clearly i ndividualized: i) including broccolis and cauliflower; ii) with a mist ure of kales and cabbages originally from Central-North Europe; iii) f ormed by Portuguese coles. These preliminary results suggest the exist ence of three major regions of domestication of B. oleracea in Europe: Italy, Central-North Europe and Portugal. Kailan or chinese kale seem s to have evolved separately from the other B. oleracea cultivars in E astern Asia.