Infraspecific variability of rosemary (<i>Rosmarinus officinalis</i> L.) in the Gatersleben genebank collection

Abstract

Rosmary (Rosmarinus officinalis L., Lamiaceae), is an evergreen shrub in the Mediterranean area. Well known as spice plant, it is also used as medicinal plant. Applications are dyspepsia, flatulence, feeling of fullness and gastro-intestinal diseases. In addition, an external application for rheumatism is described. Fourty one accesions of R. officinalis are stored in the genebank of the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK). The material comes from collecting missions of wild samples but also landraces, breeding lines and advanced cultivars from seven countries are maintained. The infraspecific variability of all these accessions will be characterized morphologically, with molecular markers and chemically. The morphological characterization was done with a standardized descriptor over two years. For the molecular studies more than 30 codominant SNP marker were used. The analysis of the chemical compounds shows the qualitative and quantitative composition of the essential oils. Giving one example from the morphological characterizations, the number of glandular trichoms per leaf indicates clear differences between the accessions but also between the years. In general, the variability is very high. More than 30 polymorphic markers show first results of relationship between the accessions. Potential duplicates can be seen as well as geographic clusters. Correlation between molecular and morphological data like number of glandular trichoms or leaf morphology could not be found. The analysis of the essential oils needs final evaluation. In conclusion, screening of genetic resources is the base for further use in research and breeding.