EUBRASWILD

The primary center of diversity for Brassicaceae is Himalayan area, from where they dispersed to North African and European Atlantic coasts. The southwest Mediterranean area seems to represent the secondary center, if not the primary, in the light of the recent evolutionary evidence recorded. Wild relatives of the Brassica oleracea complex species (n=9) can be found sporadically on the western Atlantic coast and certain parts of the central Mediterranean.

However, the information on Brassica wild relatives from Eastern Europe is lacking. There is evidence that this area is rich in wild Brassica relatives but with no recent systematic approach to this subject. The main diffused andmentioned are Brassica rupestris Raf., B. villosa Biv., B. macrocarpa Guss., B.drepanensis (Caruel) Damanti , B. incana and related endemic species such are B. botterii Vis., B. cazzae Ginzb. & Teyb and B. mollis Vis.. As far as we know, wild relatives of Brassica were never cultivated in the area but they grow wild and are sporadically used in the diet of the local population.

The aim of this activity is to contribute to knowledge on presence, distribution and biodiversity status ofwild Brassica relatives in the Eastern Europe as well as to filling the gaps of wild Brassicaceae in genbanks and AEGIS. .

The expected impacts of the proposal are:

• widening activities of Brassica working group to members of underrepresented genbanks in

EURISCO and particularly AEGIS

• capturing of Brassica CWRs diversity in SE Europe
• exploration and identification of new accessions of Brassica CWRs for inclusion into AEGIS
• improvement of genebank management in accordance with principles of AEGIS