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Reservoir of the European chestnut diversity in Switzerland

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Abstract

In Switzerland, chestnut forests cover about 27,100 ha, plus some 6800 ha of mixed stands. Due to environmental and historical reasons, most of these still existing forests are located in the Swiss Southern Alps, whereas in the northern parts of the country the chestnut cultivation and the related knowledge strongly regressed since the Little Ice Age period. Nevertheless, Switzerland still hosts valuable genetic resources of the sweet chestnut tree. The present genetic study bases on a nationwide inventory, identification and precise localisation of old and/or grafted chestnut trees for conservation purposes. The main objectives were: (1) to evaluate the genetic diversity and the genetic structure of Castanea sativa in Switzerland, and (2) to define a program of conservation including the proposal of a defined core collection. We genetically analysed a pre-selection of 962 accessions (out of 14,165 inventoried trees throughout Switzerland), profiling them with 24 microsatellites. We identified 675 different genotypes out of 962 accessions with a 29.8% of repetitiveness due to clonality. A structural analysis based on a Bayesian method allowed to identify two main clusters, one mostly related to the genetic group from southern Europe (Reconstructed Panmictic Population RPP1) and a second one (RPP2) which revealed to be independent and genetically different from other European groups of chestnut cultivars. The Swiss RPP2 represents a new genetic group, and consequently a complement to genetic resources of chestnut tree in Europe. Genetic analysis allowed defining a core collection of 46 genotypes, which should be used in priority for the Swiss conservation program.

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Data Accessibility Statement

A comprehensive DNA samples database is stored at the Institute Land Nature Environment (HES-SO University of applied sciences and arts western Switzerland).

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture FOAG in the framework of the Swiss National Plan of Action for plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. We thank to the Spanish government for the funds under the contract AGL2013-48017-C2-2-R to compare allele ranges with Spanish samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Producción Vegetal y Proyectos de Ingeniería, Escola Politécnica Superior, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Campus de Lugo, 27002, Lugo, Spain

    S. Pereira-Lorenzo & A. M. Ramos-Cabrer

  2. In Situ Vivo Sàrl, Chemin de Grésy 6, 1241, Puplinge, Switzerland

    Y. Bischofberger

  3. Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, a Ramèl 18, 6593, Cadenazzo, Switzerland

    M. Conedera

  4. EcoControl SA, Via Rovedo 16, 6600, Locarno, Switzerland

    P. Piattini

  5. Plants and Pathogens Group, Research Institute Land Nature and Environment (inTNE), Hepia, HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, Route de Presinge 150, Jussy, 1254, Geneva, Switzerland

    J. Crovadore, R. Chablais & F. Lefort

  6. Institute for Terrestrial Ecosystems, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, 8092, Zürich, Switzerland

    A. Rudow

  7. MOGLI Solutions, 5400, Baden, Switzerland

    A. Rudow & S. Hatt

  8. UMR BFP Biologie du Fruit et Pathologie, INRAE-Université de Bordeaux, F-33882, Villenave d’Ornon, France

    T. Barreneche

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  1. S. Pereira-Lorenzo
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  2. Y. Bischofberger
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  3. M. Conedera
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  8. S. Hatt
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  9. A. M. Ramos-Cabrer
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  11. F. Lefort
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Contributions

Designed research: SP-L, YB, TB, FL. Performed research: SP-L, YB, MC, PP, JC, RC, AR, SH, AMR-C, TB, FL. Contributed new reagents or analytical tools: SP-L, MC, AMR-C, HC, TB, FL. Analyzed data: SP-L, MC, RC, AMR-C, TB, FL. Wrote the paper: SP-L, YB, MC, PP, AR, SH, AMR-C, TB, FL.

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Correspondence to S. Pereira-Lorenzo.

Additional information

Communicated by Daniel Sanchez Mata.

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Pereira-Lorenzo, S., Bischofberger, Y., Conedera, M. et al. Reservoir of the European chestnut diversity in Switzerland. Biodivers Conserv 29, 2217–2234 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-020-01970-2

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