Dalmatian sage (Salvia officinalis L., Lamiaceae) is a well-known aromatic and medicinal Mediterranean plant that is native in coastal regions of the western Balkan and southern Apennine Peninsulas and is commonly cultivated worldwide. It is widely used in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Knowledge of its genetic diversity and spatiotemporal patterns is important for plant breeding programmes and conservation. We used eight microsatellite markers to investigate evolutionary history of indigenous populations as well as genetic diversity and structure within and among indigenous and cultivated/naturalised populations distributed across the Balkan Peninsula. The results showed a clear separation between the indigenous and cultivated/naturalised groups, with the cultivated material originating from one restricted geographical area. Most of the genetic diversity in both groups was attributable to differences among individuals within populations, although spatial genetic analysis of indigenous populations indicated the existence of isolation by distance. Geographical structuring of indigenous populations was found using clustering analysis, with three sub-clusters of indigenous populations. The highest level of gene diversity and the greatest number of private alleles were found in the central part of the eastern Adriatic coast, while decreases in gene diversity and number of private alleles were evident towards the northwestern Adriatic coast and southern and eastern regions of the Balkan Peninsula. The results of Ecological Niche Modelling during Last Glacial Maximum and Approximate Bayesian Computation suggested two plausible evolutionary trajectories: 1) the species survived in the glacial refugium in southern Adriatic coastal region with subsequent colonization events towards northern, eastern and southern Balkan Peninsula; 2) species survived in several refugia exhibiting concurrent divergence into three genetic groups. The insight into genetic diversity and structure also provide the baseline data for conservation of S. officinalis genetic resources valuable for future breeding programmes.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the phenotypic variability of Vicia faba germplasm by using varietal diversity in identifying genotypes with morpho-productive traits, disease and pest resistance, weed infestation, which can be used as a model in the development of genetic mixtures in integrated management practices for environmentally friendly, diseases, pests and weeds. Productivity, disease and pest descriptors at 50 Vicia faba genotypes of different biological status (10 obsolete cultivars, 30 local populations, 10 inbreed lines), were determined, by testing in intercropping experiments with small grain cereals and mono-cropping, in two different climatic years under the northeastern part of Romania conditions. The statistical estimators resulting from the unidirectional Anova analysis determined in mono-cropping and intercropping systems a hierarchy of heterogeneity of local populations for productivity traits and degree of attack of faba bean weevil (Bruchus rufimanus) and ascochyta blight (Ascochyta fabae) on seeds, for incidence of micromycete Uromyces viciae fabae and of aphids Aphys fabae in intercropping system. There was a weak competition of Vicia faba species, regarding the presence of weeds compared to small grains cereals variants and potentially beneficial for nitrogen symbiotic fixation by increasing oat productivity, in two years of intercropping with faba bean. By using Euclidean distance and Pearson correlation, in classification of genotypes and morpho-productive traits, diseases and pest in clusters from dendograms, similarities were highlighted between productivity and its components and between attacks to diseases and pests and dissimilarities between genotypes, members cluster three with phenotypic variability with maximum values of productivity traits and minimum attacks to disease and pest resistance compared to the other two clusters with possibilities for use in the development of genetic mixtures programs.