Complete plastid genomes of South Caucasian, European and Mediterranean Basin wild grapevines (Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris)

The South Caucasus region is widely believed to be the area in which grape domestication began, therefore the study of genetic diversity of wild grape samples in this region is viewed as a key to understanding grape domestication in general. The main goal of the presented research was assessment of genetic diversity of wild grape samples from different places of Europe and Mediterranean basin by using complete chloroplast DNA Illumina sequencing. The analyzed sequences were compared with the plastid genomes of Georgian wild grape samples from our previous research. The presented work is a first attempt of studying a wide range of the genus Vitis L., in particular wild grape samples from Europe and Mediterranean basin with next-generation technologies and adopting this application for the tracing of grape ancestry. The obtained results will help to understand the genetic relationships between wild and cultivated grapes from different geographical locations and explain the molecular bases of grape origin and evolution. Phylogenetic trees representing evolutionary relationship between analyzed grape samples are presented.