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The wine sector is one of the most active and profitable in Italy; Italy is the largest wine producer in the world, followed by Spain and France. For this reason, it is subject to extensive legislative discipline. Calabria ranks sixteenth among Italian regions for wine production; however, in recent years, much effort has been made to promote the wine sector in this region. Nine Calabrian wines are designated as PDO (protected designation of origin) and ten wines as PGI (protected geographical indication). Among the PDO wines, Terre di Cosenza and Cirò are the most famous. Fraud prevention is necessary for consumer protection and for product valorization and promotion. Microsatellite marker analysis represents a reliable and effective tool for varietal characterization, allowing the detection of adulteration in the winemaking process. We sampled 20 grapevine cultivars from different areas of Calabria commonly used for production of the PDO wine Terre di Cosenza and 20 cultivars from other Italian regions in order to carry out a molecular characterization. The analysis was performed through six simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers proposed by the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV), VVSS2, VVMD5, VVMD7, VVMD27, VrZAG62, and VrZAG79. Some of the cultivars showed the same molecular profile, revealing the presence of synonymies and incorrect name assignment.

In comparison of a traditional cultivar of red-fleshed kiwifruit- ‘Hongyang’ (A. chinensis var. rufopulpa Liang et Ferguson), the genetic characteristics of morphology, cellular and molecular level of a new strain of red-fleshed kiwifruit (A. chinensis var. rufopulpa) ‘SF-F0809’ were evaluated by means of biological observation, somatic chromosome number counting and ISSR marker analysis. The results indicate that the biological characteristics of the flowers, leaves, fruits, etc. of the ‘SF-F0809’ are significantly different from those of the ‘Hongyang’, and its comprehensive properties are better in general. Chromosome number of both ‘SF-F0809’ and ‘Hongyang’ is the same, 2n=2x=58, both are diploid; 67 bands are generated in seven pairs of ISSR primers, and 35 of them are polymorphic bands, accounting for 52.24%. Two to nine polymorphic bands are generated by each primer. All data reveal that there are genetic differences between ‘Hongyang’ and ‘SF-F0809’.

Segregation of flower longevity in two lily populations was studied and the genetic linkage of morphological markers and RAPD markers with loci involved in flower longevity was investigated. A large variation in flower longevity was found within the two populations tested at individual plant level. Longevity values were well correlated between experiments at the individual plant level and at clonal level. One out of 278 RAPD markers and one morphological marker (male sterility) were significantly (P