*3.2. Improving Broccoli by Landraces or Other B. oleracea Subspecies*

Modern broccoli has very narrow genetic diversity, which may cause undesirable quality, yield and resistance. Broccoli landraces (especially from Italy) and other subspecies provide diverse genetic resources with promising traits, such as differential heading type, differential flowering/maturation time, high glucosinolate content and strong disease

resistance. Desirable genes can be introduced by MAS from landraces/different subspecies to breeding materials to improve the quality and extend the genetic diversity of broccoli. A particular case is the head compactness of calabrese broccoli, the most popular broccoli type; in recent decades, head compactness of this broccoli has been significantly enhanced for easy transport and storage, which may be improved via genomic fragment introgression from cauliflower (no published literature).
