Characterizing wild germplasm of neglected and underutilized crops: A case study of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) from remote Pir Panjal Himalaya

Abstract

Despite a wide range of nutritional and nutraceutical diversity existing within the wild germplasm of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) that can be utilized to develop genetically superior cultivars, little research efforts have been focused on the characterization of this neglected and underutilized crop in the Himalaya. To fill this research gap, the present study carried out in the remote mountainous region of Pir Panjal Himalaya aimed to characterize the morphological variability, assess the genetic variability and relationship among and between the different populations of wild pomegranate, and identify the elite genotype for future plant propagation. We observed significant differences among all the 18 morphological descriptors analyzed; fruit traits showed the highest power of discrimination among the wild pomegranate accessions. Based on ANOVA results, most of the morphological variables showed significant differences among the studied populations (p˂0.001). Further, redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that only two fruit traits, the number of arils and aril weight showed a significant relationship within all the populations. Molecular characterization, based on ISSR marker analysis, showed substantial genetic diversity within and between the populations of wild pomegranate in this Himalayan region. In this regard, RDA identified one potentially adaptive locus that strongly affects the different populations of wild pomegranate. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed 58% variation among populations and 42% variation within populations. Our research findings, based on detailed morphological and molecular characterization, provide precious information on the genetic diversity of wild pomegranate. We have identified elite genotypes that can guide climate-smart agriculture based on local genetic resources in this remote Himalayan region.