Genetic and biochemical properties of Cicer spp reveal distinction between wild and cultivated chickpea genotypes

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is thethirdmost importantlegumesafterbeans andpeas in theworld. Turkey isone of the main chickpea producing countries but the yield is not within the expected quantity considering cultivated area. Breeding chickpea varieties requires well-characterized wild Cicer spp progenitors including C. reticulatum, C. echinospermum, C. bijugum and C. pinnatifidum that exhibit sympatric distribution in the Southeastern Anatolia region of Turkey. This study contributes to the identification of similarities and differences among wild and cultivated Cicer spp. ecotypes using DNA marker systems and biochemical parameters. RAPD and ISSR markers revealed four groups and separated C pinnatifidum ecotypes as a single population. Wild Cicer spp and cultivated chickpea species exhibited significant variations for their oil, protein, starch, cellulose, fructose and sucrose content. Furthermore, the cultivated chickpea genotypes had higher content of fat, starch and sucrose than those of the wild progenitors whereas wild Cicer spp ecotypes possessed higher values for cellulose, fructose and glucose than cultivated chickpea genotypes.