Assessment of Genetic Diversity and Relationships among Gypsophila and Silene Species from Turkey based on SRAP Markers

Abstract

Gypsophila (Gypsophila L.) is a member of the Caryophyllaceae family and its genus consists of approximately 150 species. Some of several species are grown commercially for a variety of uses herbal medicine, and food. Its most common use is as cut flower worldwide. Gypsophila species are native and widely distributed in Turkey that is the main genetic resource center. In this study, firstly Gypsophila L. genotypes were collected from native areas in Turkey. Secondly, genetic diversity using molecular markers were provided valuable information for breeding programs and strategies of germplasm conservation. Sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) as a molecular markers were used to determine diversity and relationships among 41 Gypsophila (Caryophyllaceae) genotypes including 13 species (G. viscosa, G. simonii, G. venusta, G. bicolor, G. simulatrix, G. bitlisensis, G. germanicopolitana, G. perfoliata, G. arrostii, G. eleganas, G. paniculata and G. aucheri) and 2 Silene types (S. vulgaris and Silene spp.) as outgroups. As results, twenty primer combinations were produced 153 scorable fragments, and also all markers were showed 100% polymorphism for 43 genotypes. The significance of the resulting dendrograms was verified calculating the cophenetic correlation r values (r ≥ 0.80) for SRAP markers. The Gypsophila and Silene species were clearly grouped according to subspecies and by region. Results indicated that SRAP markers were useful for investigating diversity and relationships among Gypsophila germplasm. Additionally, this data could be used for development of new Gypsophila varieties in the breeding programme.