Abstract
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is a major forage crop of family Fabaceae and is frequently cultivated in Egypt. The present study is concerned with the genetic discrimination of fifteen alfalfa cultivars from three different countries (Egypt, Australia, and USA) using two molecular approaches: inter-retrotransposon-amplified polymorphism (IRAP) markers and two chloroplast DNA barcodes matK and the trnH in addition to the analysis of fifteen morpho-agronomic traits. The genetic relatedness, based on analysis of IRAP marker polymorphism and produced using eleven primers by clustering via principal component analysis (PCA) and multivariate heatmap biostatistical methods differentiated the two Egyptian cultivars EGY1-Ismailia1 and EGY2-Nubaria1 from the three Australian and seven American cultivars, with some distinction of the cv. USA6-SW9720 and cv. AUS4-SuperFast. The results were also supported by the sequence analysis of the matK and the trnH genes on the genetic relatedness between eight cultivars. Moreover, it might be suggested that breeding lines from M. sativa cultivars may provide novel insights and a better understanding of the domestication of M. sativa genetic diversity. The classification of the eight cultivars, as revealed by morpho-agronomic traits, confirmed the close genetic relationship between the two Egyptian cultivars and indicated some resemblance between them and the AUS2-Siri Nafa, whereas the two American cultivars, USA1-Super supreme and USA4-Cuf101, were clearly isolated from a cluster of other three cultivars USA7-SW9628, USA8-Magna901, and USA9-Perfect. The results are useful sources of genetic information for future breeding programs in crop development and open new possibilities of producing M. sativa lines harboring high forage quality, productivity, and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses.
Highlights
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), known as alfalfa and lucerne, is a major important cultivated forage legume crop that was originated in the Caucasus region, and plays a significant role in agricultural sustainability [1]
These primers generated a total of 97 amplicons; 85 of these were polymorphic
inter-retrotransposon-amplified polymorphism (IRAP) markers and the chloroplast DNA matK and trnH barcodes were used to assess genetic diversity in some M. sativa cultivars currently cultivated in Egypt, USA, and Australia
Summary
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), known as alfalfa and lucerne, is a major important cultivated forage legume crop that was originated in the Caucasus region, and plays a significant role in agricultural sustainability [1]. It is one of the worldwide planted legume crops for forage sources cause of its high. For sustainable cropping systems alfalfa has worthy benefits because of its root formation and perennial life cycle restrict soil erosion. Agronomic and quality traits in alfalfa may be improved using plant materials having rich genetic variation and analysis of morpho-agronomic traits and using marker selected breeding (MSB). The efficiency of phenotypic and RAPD markers was estimated for diversity assessment of alfalfa accessions from Europe, North America and Australia [7]
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