Taxonomy of Beta Section Beta

Abstract

The taxonomic histories of the genus Beta and of section Beta within this genus are summarised. The subdivision of the genus agrees largely with (im)possibilities to produce hybrids. Classification within section Beta has been very variable, with examples of overclassification and severe lumping of taxa. The present study includes a morphometric analysis of variation, research on the patterns of allozyme differentiation, and studies of available herbarium specimens. After a description of the taxonomic criteria used, and after the stabilisation of four Linnaean names through typification, the results of the various studies are combined and used to formulate a revision of Beta section Beta. It is proposed to distinguish three species: B. vulgaris, a large and variable species containing both cultivated and wild materials; B. macrocarpa; and B. patula. B. vulgaris is subdivided into three subspecies: subsp. vulgaris, containing all cultivated materials; subsp. maritima, a large and variable group of plant types; and subsp. adanensis. Further subdivision is considered to be of little or no use. The so-called weed beets are classified as subsp. maritima. A key to the species and subspecies of section Beta is presented. Allozyme studies indicate that the development of self-compatibility and autogamy might have been important in the formation of taxa. Results are also discussed in relation to sampling strategies for gene banks.

Broadening the genetic base of sugar beet: introgression from wild relatives

“…The wild sea beet (Beta vulgaris subspecies maritima (B. v. ssp. maritima) long has been thought to be the progenitor of all domesticated beet, and recent molecular data have confirmed this (Hjerdin et al 1994;Jung et al 1993;Letschert et al 1994).…”

“…The Section Beta is indigenous to the Mediterranean area, extends westward as far as the Canary Islands, east through the Middle East to India, and north along the Atlantic coast to Scandinavia. Letschert et al (1994) have recently revised the Section Beta. The wild taxa within Beta are an important genetic resource for disease resistance breeding of cultivated beet [Beta taxonomy is well reviewed by Ford-Lloyd (2005)].…”

Root and Tuber Crops

“…Vulgares Ulbrich) 2x, 3x, 4x a Beta vulgaris L. the section Beta (Letschert, 1993;Letschert et al, 1993;Ford-Lloyd, 2005). Wild beets (i.e., the species and sub-species (ssp.)…”

“…The center of diversity is located in Eastern Turkey, in the zone of overlap between the sections Corollinae and Beta. The domestication of beets probably started in the areas of the Tigris and Euphrates and continued into Turkey and Greece, areas from which cultivated beets were introduced into Northern Europe (Boughey, 1981 (Letschert et al, 1994;Villain, 2007) Beta, mainly because of the different chromosome numbers. The breeders often use plants from the subspecies maritima, for example, whose many genes contributed to current fodder beet cultivars, mainly via sugar beet (Zohary and Hopf, 2000).…”

Morphology, Physiology, and Ecology

“…Both are more similar to the Irish than the French and Italian sea beet populations. The presence of very small and isolated populations in remote and in other ways inaccessible shores of the North Sea, Baltic Sea, and British Islands is clear evidence of the dispersal of sea beet via seawater Letschert et al 1994 ) . This is true also for the Mediterranean and Adriatic populations along the sea shore and on Mediterranean islands (Biancardi, unpublished).…”