Tracing the Evolutionary and Migration Pathways of Economically Important Turkish Vicia L. Species: A Molecular and Biogeographic Perspective on Sustainable Agro-Biodiversity

Zeynep Özdokur and Mevlüde Alev Ateş ()
Additional contact information
Zeynep Özdokur: Agricultural Biotechnology Master Program, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Kırşehir Ahi Evran University, Kırşehir 40100, Turkey
Mevlüde Alev Ateş: Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Kırşehir Ahi Evran University, Kırşehir 40200, Turkey

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 17, 1-20

Abstract: Understanding the evolutionary and geographic trajectories of crop wild relatives is vital for enhancing agro-biodiversity and advancing climate-resilient agriculture. This study focuses on ten Vicia L. taxa—comprising five species, four varieties, and one subspecies—of significant agricultural importance in Türkiye. An integrative molecular framework was applied, incorporating nuclear ITS sequence data, ITS2 secondary structure modeling, phylogenetic network analysis, and time-calibrated biogeographic reconstruction. This approach revealed well-supported clades, conserved secondary structural elements, and signatures of reticulate evolution, particularly within the Vicia sativa L. and V. villosa Roth. complexes, where high genetic similarity suggests recent divergence and possible hybridization. Anatolia was identified as both a center of origin and a dispersal corridor, with divergence events estimated to have occurred during the Late Miocene–Pliocene epochs. Inferred migration routes extended toward the Balkans, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, corresponding to paleoenvironmental events such as the uplift of the Anatolian Plateau and the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Phylogeographic patterns indicated genetic affiliations between Turkish taxa and drought-adapted Irano-Turanian lineages, offering valuable potential for climate-resilient breeding strategies. The results establish a molecularly informed foundation for conservation and varietal development, supporting sustainability-oriented innovation in forage crop systems and contributing to regional food security.

Keywords: hybridization; molecular phylogenetics; reticulate evolution; sustainable agriculture; Vicia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/17/7914/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/17/7914/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:17:p:7914-:d:1740982

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().