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Pea (P. sativum L.), one of the most important legume crops worldwide, has been traditionally cultivated in Lesser Cyclades since ancient times. The commonly known traditional pea cultivar, 'Katsouni', is endemic to the islands of Amorgos and Schinoussa and is of great local economic importance. Despite the widespread cultivation of 'Katsouni' in both islands, it is still unknown whether the current Schinoussa and Amorgos pea populations are distinct landraces, and if they have common evolutionary origin. To assist conservation and breeding of the pea crop, the genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships of 39 pea samples from Amorgos and 86 from Schinoussa were studied using DNA barcoding and ISSR marker analyses. The results indicate that both populations are different landraces with distinct geographical distribution and are more closely related to P. sativum subsp. elatius than the P. abyssinicum and P. fulvum species. Further characterization of the 'Katsouni' landraces for functional polymorphisms regarding pathogen resistance, revealed susceptibility to the powdery mildew (Erysiphe pisi DC.). This work represents the first investigation on the genetic diversity and population structure of the 'Katsouni' cultivar. Exploiting the local genetic diversity of traditional landraces is fundamental for conservation practices and crop improvement through breeding strategies. Pea (P. sativum L.) is among the most important legume crops, such as chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), lentil and faba bean (Vicia faba L.), in temperate climates and has a wide geographical distribution, with field pea being specifically adapted to a wide range of climates and altitudes. The Pisum species are of high commercial importance and are cultivated worldwide for dry and fresh consumption. According to the International Legume Database (ILDIS) and to the classification of Maxted and Ambrose (2001) [7], the Pisum genus includes three species: i) Pisum abyssinicum, ii) Pisum fulvum and iii) Pisum sativum L., which further includes the wild pea, Pisum sativum subsp. elatius (M. Bieb. Asch. & Graebn) and the domesticated pea, Pisum sativum subsp. sativum.Phylogenetic analyses of various pea taxa with molecular markers indicate that hybridization between wild peas is not an extensive phenomenon [8]. The recently annotated pea genome sequence and the resequencing of data from 42 wild, landrace and cultivar Pisum genotypes, provided further insights into legume genome evolution [9]. It has been suggested that the common ancestor of the Pisum species was probably cytogenetically similar to P. sativum subsp. elatius, which evolved across the Mediterranean and Middle East [8] and gave rise to P. sativum subsp. sativum and P. fulvum in the northern Middle East. Regarding P. abyssinicum, two main hypotheses exist; it is considered the result of a domestication event from a southern P. sativum subsp. elatius ancestor [10] followed by a migration to Abyssinia, possibly through ancient human trading routes [11], indicating at least two domesticati...

Much is known about microbes originally identified in caves, but little is known about the entrapment of microbes (bacteria) in stalactites and their possible environmental origins. This study presents data regarding the significant environmental distribution of prokaryotic bacterial taxa of a Greek stalactite core. We investigated the involvement of those bacteria communities in stalactites using a metataxonomic analysis approach of partial 16S rRNA genes. The metataxonomic analysis of stalactite core material revealed an exceptionally broad ecological spectrum of bacteria classified as members of Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, Verrucomicrobia, and other unclassified bacteria. We concluded that (i) the bacterial transport process is possible through water movement from the upper ground cave environment, forming cave speleothems such as stalactites, (ii) bacterial genera such as Polaromonas, Thioprofundum, and phylum Verrucomicrobia trapped inside the stalactite support the paleoecology, paleomicrobiology, and paleoclimate variations, (iii) the entrapment of certain bacteria taxa associated with water, soil, animals, and plants such as Micrococcales, Propionibacteriales, Acidimicrobiales, Pseudonocardiales, and α-, β-, and γ-Proteobacteria.

Pomegranate is one of the oldest known fruit crops, well adapted to hot and dry areas and successfully grown in Mediterranean countries. During the last two decades, numerous publications have revealed the traditionally known associations between pomegranate consumption and health benefits, which led to increased demand by consumers and expansion in cultivation areas. Pomegranate is well adapted to areas with diverse pedoclimatic conditions and local cultivars could provide an essential source of genes for breeding. In this study, fruit phenotypic and genetic variability, and relationships, were studied in 26 Greek and foreign pomegranate cultivars/accessions grown in an ex situ collection located in Naoussa Greece, using Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) and Start Codon Targeted (SCoT) molecular markers. Results from the principal component analysis made on fruit phenotypic characters revealed five components that accounted for 74.8% of the total variance, the first being related to skin color parameters and the second to juice antioxidant contents and aril color. Clustering from phenotypic data allocated individuals into four clusters. A total of 184 bands were generated for all markers applied across the 26 pomegranate cultivars/accessions, with an average of 77 bands per ISSR markers and 82 bands for SCoT markers. Low variability in the phenotypic and genotypic level was indicated; nevertheless, results from the association study between phenotypic traits and molecular markers that were obtained using Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA) could prove valuable for marker-assisted breeding programs, especially from SCoT markers that were found to be strongly or averagely associated with the morphological traits and chemical components.