Vol. 65 No. 2 (2026)
Articles

Two genetic groups of Orobanche cumana Wallr. in Moldova show contrasting regional affinities

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  • Lidia DEL MORAL,
  • Begona PÉREZ-VICH,
  • Steliana CLAPCO,
  • Maria DUCA,
  • Leonardo VELASCO,
  • Angela PORT
Lidia DEL MORAL
Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (IAS-CSIC), Córdoba, Spain
Begona PÉREZ-VICH
Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (IAS-CSIC), Córdoba, Spain
Steliana CLAPCO
Moldova State University, Chișinau, Republic of Moldova
Maria DUCA
Moldova State University, Chișinau, Republic of Moldova
Leonardo VELASCO
Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (IAS-CSIC), Córdoba, Spain
Angela PORT
Moldova State University, Chișinau, Republic of Moldova
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/phyto-17407

Published 2026-09-10

Keywords

  • Genetic diversity,
  • Parasitic weeds,
  • SNP markers,
  • Virulence,
  • Population structure

How to Cite

[1]
L. DEL MORAL, PÉREZ-VICH B., S. CLAPCO, M. DUCA, L. VELASCO, and A. PORT, “Two genetic groups of Orobanche cumana Wallr. in Moldova show contrasting regional affinities”, Phytopathol. Mediterr., vol. 65, no. 2, pp. 333–342, Sep. 2026.

Copyright (c) 2026 Lidia DEL MORAL, Begona PÉREZ-VICH, Steliana CLAPCO, Maria DUCA, Leonardo VELASCO, Angela PORT

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

Broomrape (Orobanche cumana Wallr.) is a parasitic plant of sunflower which is racially evolving and geographically expanding across most sunflower-growing regions. In the Republic of Moldova, broomrape has been present since 1937. Genetic diversity and structure of seven Moldovan broomrape populations, and reference populations from neighbouring Türkiye, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia, were analysed using a set of 90 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. Genetic diversity was moderate but highly variable among Moldovan populations, with appreciable unbiased expected heterozygosity and Shannon’s index values in several populations. Observed heterozygosity was consistently low relative to expected heterozygosity, a pattern consistent with the predominantly selfing broomrape mating system. Population structure analyses, based on STRUCTURE, principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) and Neighbor-Joining clustering, consistently revealed the presence of two main genetic groups within Moldova. These groups had different affinities with populations from neighbouring countries, with genetic group G1 close to Romanian populations and genetic group G2 close to populations from Türkiye and Bulgaria, indicating a geographical component underlying the observed genetic differentiation. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) indicated that most of the genetic variation was explained by differences among populations, confirming strong broomrape population structuring within Moldova.

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