An unexploited almond biodiversity in central Italy: Genetic characterization and conservation strategies using molecular markers.

Almond is one of the most important nut crops worldwide. In Italy, 96% of the national almond production is covered by the Southern regions. However, small resources of cultivated and wild trees are also found in central Italian regions like Abruzzo, Sardinia, and Marche. Exploratory missions throughout the Marche region revealed the presence of many local and uncharacterized almond genotypes. The aim of this study was to recover this germplasm and characterize it using molecular markers. The genetic analysis revealed a high genetic variation in Marche almond genotypes, which showed them to be genetically distinct from the Italian and international varieties. A great richness in private alleles was found in the Marche almond collection, supporting the uniqueness of this germplasm and the importance of this resource of genetic diversity for the development of conservation programs and the implementation of almond breeding activities.