Abstract
Armenia is an important area of crop origins including grapes. The objectives of this study were the molecular characterization of 38 Armenian grape genotypes and the detection of the genetic relationships between the accessions. In total, 164 alleles were obtained at 18 SSRs loci. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 5 to 15 with a mean number of 9.17 alleles per locus. The expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.514 (VVIN73) to 0.90 (VVS2) and the observed heterozygosity from 0.417 (VVIV37) to 0.947 (VVMD7 and VMC1B11). In our research the highest values of polymorphic information content (PIC) were obtained using markers VVS2, VRZAG62 and VRZAG79, while the least informative ones were VVIN73 and VVIB01. A high level of gene diversity was observed between ancient and new bred cultivars. Higher values were recorded for the new grape varieties, (He = 0.792) and lower values for ancient cultivars (He = 0.739). The mean number of alleles (MNA) for all loci per population ranged from 7.39 in ancient to 8,00 in new crosses. A clear separation was observed for the groups of ancient aboriginal cultivars, Vitis vinifera L. xVitis vinifera L. and Vitis vinifera L. x Vitis amurensis Rupr . crosses, which were bred in Armenia and seedless cultivars. Very close relationships with high similarity were determined for 5 pairs of cultivars. Two cases of possible homonymy were also detected. Our results are the basis for future MAS selection and target breeding.
Highlights
Armenia has a long history of viticulture and winemaking
68 rare alleles (41,46%) for all loci were found with a frequency of occurrence of less than 5%
The Armenian genetic pool was formed during thousands years of folk selection and later was enriched by hybridizations and mutations
Summary
Armenia has a long history of viticulture and winemaking. The earliest traces of grape domestication and cultivation were found in the Armenian highlands dating to the ancient Neolithic settlements (6,000-5,000 BC) [2,3,4]. Armenia is a mountainous country with a dry and continental climate with hot summers and cold winters. Climatic conditions are favorable for the successful cultivation of grapes for different usage, e.g., differing in ripening time and yield. Very low temperatures in winter as low as −35 ◦C can sometimes cause great damage to the grape plants. The winter frost tolerant species Vitis amurensis Rupr. Was widely used in breeding programs at the Armenian Scientific Research Institute of Viticulture, Fruit-Growing and Winemaking
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