Analysis of genetic diversity of chickpea cultivars using STMS markers

Abstract

A set of 38 chickpea cultivars were assessed in this study at the molecular level using 8 STMS (Sequence-Tagged Microsatellite Site) markers. This set includes advanced lines from the Tunisian breeding program, Tunisian varieties and reference lines from ICARDA (International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas, ICRISAT (International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid-Tropics) and other countries. A total of 58 alleles were generated from the amplification of the 8 microsatellite sites studied with an average value of 7.25 alleles per locus, which explain a high level of polymorphism within the cultivars studied. All the cultivars studied showed a unique genetic profile, each one using the genotypic combination of all loci studied. Only three STMS markers (TA59, TA64, and TA71) from the eight studied showed the highest number of alleles, the effective number of alleles and the highest values of power of discrimination allow us the unambiguous discrimination of all the cultivars studied. The Dice coefficient of similarity was calculated between all pairs of accessions and UPGMA analysis was performed from the genetic similarity matrix, and allowed the arrangement of all genotypes according to their genetic relationships. The genetic similarity among cultivars observed in this work, led to their separation according to their pedigree, their morphological characteristics and their environment adaptation for biotic and abiotic stresses. The results of this work suggest that microsatellite markers are valuable tools for molecular characterization and analysis of diversity in chickpea.