[PERSON]  
4 Cargell'Astronomy and Physics of the Universe, 11855 Athens, Greece; [EMAIL_ADDRESS]  
[PERSON]  
4 Cargell'Astronomy and Physics of the Universe, 11855 Athens, Greece; [EMAIL_ADDRESS]  
[PERSON]  
6 Laboratory of Plant Breeding and Biometry, Department of Crop Science, Agricultural University of Athens, 11855 Athens, Greece; [EMAIL_ADDRESS]  
[PERSON]  
1 Filed Crop Laboratory (LR6 INRAT02), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique de Tunisie (INRAT), University of Carthage, Rue Hedi Karray, 1004 Menzah 1, Tunis 2036, TunisiaAsian and European countries; these species are constantly expanding into new areas, demonstrating their ability to evolve, thus expanding their host range [3]. Indeed, having a better understanding of the genetic evolution, differentiation and spread of these parasites is very urgent, as broomrapes are becoming a real threat to food security. In addition, the controversial phenotypic classification of broomrapes, which is a very hard task due to the reduced number of phenotypic descriptors, is leading taxonomists to errors. For these reasons, the use of molecular tools is necessary to identify and differentiate properly different broomrape species. In Tunisia, the dominant broomrape species are _O. crenta_, _O. foetida_ and _P. ramosa_, with no accurate estimation of their impact on Tunisian agriculture even though 5000-70,000 (ha) hectares of legume crops could be infected [4]. In order to overcome this problem, some farmers have been replacing sensitive legume crops with others, such as sunflowers, oilseed rape and garlic (personal observation). However, the above strategy is not sound since the first infestation of _O. cumana_ in sunflowers has been reported, particularly in the most infected regions (i.e., the Beja region) [5]. In this context, a recent large screening of sunflower collection in infested fields, inoculated pots and square rhizotrons infected by _O. cumana_ shown phenotypic parasitism variability, from sensitivity to partial resistance [6]. As such, in Tunisia, the recent efforts made by seed companies and some farmers to promote oil seed rape or canola will face a serious problem of infestation by _P. ramosa_[7]. Yield losses due to _Orobanche_ spp. and _Phelipanche_ spp. infestation range from 20-80% [8]. _O. crenta_ is mostly spread in the western-northern, northern, and central-eastern regions of the country, especially in faba bean crops, where losses caused by the parasite can reach up to 97% [9], whereas _O. foetida_, which is an emerging threat for faba beans, is mainly found in northern and northern-western parts of Tunisia. Finally, _P. ramosa_ is reported to attack legumes, tobacco and many vegetable crops, as well as oil seed rape [7]. Broomrapes cause severe damage even before their appearance aboveground. Therefore, most crop losses may occur before the infestation is clearly observed. In the literature, many different strategies have long been proposed, such as hygiene and prevention measures, the use of selective herbicides, biological control, soil treatment with fumigants, sun disinfection and trap crops. Nevertheless, they have not provided sufficient controls representing poor solutions in real-field, large-scale conditions. The key strategy, therefore, is to develop resistant crops via breeding, supported by a rapid, accurate and reliable diagnostic method for the detection of the tissues or spores of the pest in soil samples from infected crops [10]. To develop successful breeding programs toward crop tolerance or resistance to parasitic weeds, a strong emphasis should be placed on investigating and identifying the genetic variability within and among broomrape populations since their virulence depends on their genetic structure and high diversity [11; 12]. Given the controversial phenotypic classification of broomrapes and the reduced number of phenotypic descriptors, the use of molecular tools is necessary to properly identify and differentiate different broomrape species.