Genetic Diversity of Peach Cultivars from the Collection of the Nikita Botanical Garden Based on SSR Markers.

Aya A Trifonova,Ksenia V Boris,Natalia V Mesyats,Valentina A Tsiupka,Anatoly V Smykov,Irina V Mitrofanova

doi:10.3390/plants10122609

Aya A Trifonova, Ksenia V Boris + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10122609

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Abstract

The Nikita Botanical Garden (NBG) has a unique Prunus L. collection (peach, apricot, plum, cherry) comprising more than 3000 accessions. NBG is also a breeding center for stone fruits, including peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch). In the present study a set of 85 peach cultivars bred in NBG, Europe, and North America was analyzed using 12 SSR markers to assess their genetic diversity and relatedness. The detected polymorphism level was comparable to the previous estimates of genetic variability in peach cultivars. The average number of alleles per locus was 5.67, PIC value averaged 0.49, expected, and observed heterozygosity averaged 0.52 and 0.31, respectively. Among the detected alleles, 19 (27.94%) were rare and 12 (17.65%) were unique. All studied accessions except two could be identified with the used marker set. Cluster analysis revealed some groups according to the cultivars’ pedigrees. No clear differentiation of the studied sample according to geographic origin or fruit characteristics of peach cultivars was revealed. The results provide valuable information for identification and rational management of the material preserved in the NBG peach collection.

Highlights

Introduction and Yuri ShavrukovThe Nikita Botanical Garden (NBG) located on the southern coast of Crimea has a large gene pool collection of wild growing and cultivated plants, collected over 200 years.The favorable climate and geographical position provided the creation and successful development of a unique nurseries and acclimatization point for fruit crops in NBG on the border between Asia and Europe.The NBG has unique Prunus L. collections, presented by more than 3000 species, hybrids, landraces, cultivars, and breeding forms of local and foreign breeding
The studied sample of 85 peach accessions represented mainly by the cultivars from the Nikita Botanical Garden (32) and North America (31) was rather diverse: 68 alleles were detected with 5.67 alleles per locus and Ho = 0.31
These results are consistent with previous studies of European and American peach germplasm, taking into account that nectarines and flat peaches were not included into our study

Summary

Introduction and Yuri Shavrukov

The Nikita Botanical Garden (NBG) located on the southern coast of Crimea has a large gene pool collection of wild growing and cultivated plants, collected over 200 years. Microsatellites or SSR markers (Simple Sequence Repeats) based on variability of tandemly repeated DNA sequences have proved to be highly efficient for genetic diversity studies and cultivar identification in different fruit trees such as apricot [1], apple [2], almond [3], sweet cherry [4], and many others. Due to their abundance in the genome, simple and relatively low cost detection, microsatellites are still widely used for genetic analysis. The results will allow conserving and managing the collection more efficiently, because currently, the peach collection is being re-laid, so its genotyping is especially important

SSR Polymorphism and Cultivars Identification

Genetic Differentiation and Structure

Discussion

Plant Material and DNA Extraction

SSR Analysis

Data Analysis