Exploring the efficacy of targeted fingerprinting marker techniques in genetic studies of the Indian poppy (Papaver somniferum L.): A comparative analysis

Abstract

Targeted fingerprinting marker techniques have emerged as promising tools in plant sciences, particularly in plant breeding. To initiate an effective breeding program for a licit but industrially potential plant, the opium poppy, a comparative assessment of these markers was conducted. In this study, we compared the Start Codon Targeted polymorphism (SCoT), CAAT box-derived polymorphism (CBDP), and Expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeats (EST-SSRs) markers for their competence and informativeness in revealing genetic identity, relatedness, and diversity among ten released varieties of the Indian opium poppy. Among the markers studied, EST-SSR markers demonstrated higher discriminating power, attributed to their ability to unveil comparatively higher polymorphic information content, marker index, and effective marker index. While all three marker systems effectively discriminated the poppy varieties, EST-SSR markers showed greater genetic diversity and a more informative ancestral history-based dendrogram topology. Significant correlation coefficients were observed between EST-SSR and CBDP markers, particularly in the combined marker dataset. Furthermore, the co-phenetic correlation was significant for three marker systems, with EST-SSR markers showing maximum correlation. Notably, the dendrograms constructed using EST-SSR markers and combined marker data displayed a significant and positive correlation with phenotypic traits assessed for the ten poppy varieties. Overall, the findings highlight the superiority of EST-SSR markers in deciphering genetic relationships among Indian opium poppy varieties and suggest their potential as valuable tools in breeding and genetic diversity studies.