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Background and Aims: Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is one of the earliest domesticated crops, dating back 6000 years ago in the Near East before spreading into Europe. Despite the abundance of historical, archaeological and genetic records, until now secondary domestication events in European regions are not well demonstrated. Here, a genetic characterisation of grape germplasm from Calabria in Southern Italy, a crucial area of the Mediterranean Basin, aims to validate this area as a secondary centre of crop domestication. Methods and Results: True-to-type cultivar classification of 72 accessions was carried out by using microsatellite loci (simple sequence repeat) along with the main Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin ampelographic descriptors. The classification highlighted a high level of genetic diversity (H e = 0.83) among native cultivars from Calabria. A decay of genetic diversity moving from southern Italy to north-western Mediterranean regions was observed, probably because of repeated founder effects during the grapevine expansion from the Mediterranean Basin to Europe. Single nucleotide polymorphism analysis showed an admixture genetic structure at K = 7, clarifying a complex network of pedigree relationships generated by crosses among cultivars. Parentage analysis underlined a high proportion of parent-offspring relationships (76%) in Mantonico Bianco and Pecorello, hypothesising their key role in the pedigree of many native cultivars from the southern Mediterranean area. Conclusion: Overall, our results appear to indicate a pivotal role of cultivars from Calabria in the grape genetic diversity of southern Italy. Furthermore, genetic analysis of grape wild accessions from Calabria should be of value in a discussion of a secondary centre of grape domestication. Significance of the Study: A large grape collection from Calabria was for the first time characterised through ampelographic and genetic analysis.

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BACKGROUND: In the Mediterranean basin, the solar radiation received is very high for many tree species over several hours of the day during the summer. Using a photoselective net can improve the climatic conditions and also modify the quality of light received. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the influence of the colour of photoselective nets on the yield and quality of Actinidia chinensis. MATERIALS: The experiment was carried out in Southern Italy on an orchard of Jintao kiwifruit. Photoselective nets of different colours were used: black, red, yellow, white, and grey. The resulting fruits were compared to those of plants in the open field. A randomised block design was adopted. Environmental, vegetative, and leaf gas exchange parameters; yield; and fruit quality were defined. All data were analysed using the Variance Analysis (ANOVA) and the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). RESULTS: Photoselectivity influenced production. The best results were obtained under the red net in terms of production and fertility indices. Fruit size, maturation indices, and nutraceutical parameters were also higher under the red net. Among the nets, the grey net induced the worst tree productivity results and the worst fruit quality parameters. However, all nets showed better results compared to the open field. CONCLUSION: The photoselective net strongly influenced the yield and quality of Jintao kiwifruit and the better results compared to the open field. The red net proved to be the best performer for the environment where the experiment was carried out.