Parthenopi Ralli

• Researcher at Institute of Plant Breeding and Phytogenetic Resources

Plant genetic resources (PGR) serve as the cornerstone for global varietal enhancement and food security. However, these resources face significant threats, including diversity erosion and extinction, are often inadequately conserved, and frequently remain inaccessible for practical use. Traditionally, PGR have been primarily conserved through popu...

As in the case with other countries with well-documented history in grape cultivation, the discrimination of Greek grapevine resources is an arduous and complicated task due to the use of numerous synonyms and homonyms, the evolution of many phenotypes within varieties and the doubtful origin of several Greek grapevine landraces. The aim of the pre...

Background Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) is a widely cultivated vegetable and aromatic‐medicinal plant. In this research, field studies assessed 12 fennel genotypes of diverse origin, comprising 10 Greek accessions and two European commercial varieties, focusing on their morpho‐agronomical traits, phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity in...

Crop landraces are genetically variable populations of agricultural plant species that through natural evolution and farmers’ selection and continuous cultivation have been adapted to the environment of their origin or cultivation. To be used and officially traded, there are more lax or strict registration schemes throughout the world concerning th...

Dill (Anethum graveolens L.) is an aromatic herb widely used in the food industry, with several commercial cultivars available with different qualitative characteristics. Commercial cultivars are usually preferred over landraces due to their higher yield and also the lack of improved landraces than can be commercialized. In Greece, however, traditi...

Grapevine ( Vitis vinifera L.) is a major worldwide crop of high economic importance, tightly interwoven with the traditions and the culture of many civilizations. The Greek vineyard is one of the oldest in the world composed of an ample number of highly diverse indigenous landraces. However, over the last decades the local cultivated grapevine ger...

Eggplant is an economically important vegetable with a potential for functional food production, mainly due to its high fruit antioxidant capacity. The goal of the present study was to investigate the main physicochemical and antioxidant parameters, and assess the bioactive profiles, of 19 eggplant genotypes of diverse origin, including Greek comme...

During the last century, the progressive substitution of landraces with modern, high yielding varieties, led to a dramatic reduction of in situ conserved crop diversity in Europe. Nowadays there is limited and scattered information on where landraces are cultivated. To fill this gap and lay the groundwork for a regional landrace in situ conservatio...

This study investigates the effect of different nitrogen fertilization levels on the agronomic traits of five Greek oregano populations. Nitrogen supply positively affected dry bio-mass production, with the highest accumulation recorded at 80 kg N ha−1 (N2), which was 59% higher compared to the control plots (no additional nitrogen). In contrast, t...

Parsley ( Petroselinum crispum ) aromatic, edible leaves are used fresh or dried as a herb, but also for their pharmaceutical properties. Given the profound concern to high nutritious and pharmaceutical value of superior plant’s germplasm, a survey is presented in this study on the phenotypic, genetic and phytochemical characterization of fifteen G...

Modern intensive agricultural systems generally focus on the productivity of monocultures. They are characterized by a low diversity of crops, with uniform and symmetrical planting layouts. They largely rely on the utilization of chemical inputs. They are widely denounced for their negative environmental impacts. In this context, the ecological int...

Sampling for needle nematodes was carried out in a grapevine area in Thessaloniki, North Greece and two nematode species of Longidorus (L. pauli and L. pisi) were collected. Nematodes were extracted from 500 cm3 of soil by modified sieving and decanting method, processed to glycerol and mounted on permanent slides, and subsequently identified morph...

Sideritis scardica Giseb. is a subalpine/alpine plant species endemic to the central part of the Balkan Peninsula. In this study, we combined Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) and environmental data to examine the adaptive genetic variations in S. scardica natural populations sampled in contrasting environments. A total of 226 AFLP loci...

In this study, we evaluated crop productivity and physiology during the hydroponic cultivation of medium-sized and cherry tomato crops, using two experimental greenhouses. Of the greenhouses, one used dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) technology for covering material, whilst the other, a conventional one (CONV), was covered using diffusion glass as...

Multivariate analysis and genetic diversity of Greek grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) cultivars using ampelographic and microsatellite markers

Dill has multiple culinary and medicinal purposes and the use of their landraces into a plant breeding program, requires the analysis of their phenotypic diversity. In this study, 33 Greek dill landraces collected from diverse areas were evaluated using traits based on UPOV descriptor list. Phenotypic diversity was assessed using Shannon-Weaver div...

The conservation and characterization of summer squash (Cucurbita pepo) genetic resources in germplasm banks has been the basis of their use in breeding projects, which resulted in the development of new cultivars. The genetic diversity of thirty six summer squash landraces from Greece was investigated here using start codon targeted (SCoT) polymor...

The conservation and characterization of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) genetic resources in germplasm banks has been the basis of their use in breeding projects, which has resulted in the development of new cultivars. High Resolution Melting (HRM) analysis, combined with eight microsatellite markers, has been integrated in order to facilitate th...

The negative relationship between the yield potential of a genotype and its competitive ability may constitute an obstacle to recognize outstanding genotypes within heterogeneous populations. This issue was investigated by growing six heterogeneous wheat landraces along with a pure-line commercial cultivar under both dense and widely spaced conditi...

We develop a conceptual framework for determining insurance values associated with a gene bank and we apply the methodology to the Greek Gene Bank (GGB), the largest ex situ conservation program in Greece. To evaluate the insurance value generated by the holdings of the GGB genetic resources, the current study examined scenarios for alternative arr...

Η περιοχή της Μεσογείου παρουσιάζει μεγάλη βιοποικιλότητα και αποτελεί ένα από τα σπουδαιότερα κέντρα καταγωγής άγριων και καλλιεργούμενων φυτών. Η Ελλάδα ειδικότερα, αποτελεί χώρο, όπου ενδημούν πολλά είδη, μεταξύ των οποίων είδη ψυχανθών και σιτηρών. Η διατήρηση και η χρήση των φυτικών γενετικών πόρων είναι απαραίτητες για την αειφόρο ανάπτυξη κα...

The ability to discriminate all species is the ultimate target in barcoding. The Mediterranean basin is a center of origin for legumes and thus they have played a key role in feeding the Mediterranean population. It is also a region with important protected designation of origin and protected geographical indication legumes that provide income in r...

Το αντικείμενο της παρούσας εργασίας είναι η μελέτη των μορφολογικών χαρακτηριστικών και των δημογραφικών παραμέτρων των αυτοφυών ειδών κρόκου (Crocus spp.), με στόχο την αξιολόγησή τους και τη διερεύνηση φυλογενετικών σχέσεων. Επιπρόσθετα, λόγω των κλιματικών και περιβαλλοντικών αλλαγών, καθώς και των απειλών από ανθρωπογενείς παράγοντες, που υφίσ...

This book contains 43 chapters, 36 of which were presented at the a conference entitled "Towards the establishment of genetic reserves for crop wild relatives and landraces in Europe" held at the University of Madeira, Funchal, Portugal between 13 and 17 September 2010. The conference papers are presented in the following sections: genetic reserve...