Abstract
Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) is one of the world’s oldest medicinal plants and a versatile model system to study secondary metabolism. However, our knowledge of its genetic diversity is limited, restricting utilization of the available germplasm for research and crop improvement. We used genotyping-by-sequencing to investigate the extent of genetic diversity and population structure in a collection of poppy germplasm consisting of 91 accessions originating in 30 countries of Europe, North Africa, America, and Asia. We identified five genetically distinct subpopulations using discriminate analysis of principal components and STRUCTURE analysis. Most accessions obtained from the same country were grouped together within subpopulations, likely a consequence of the restriction on movement of poppy germplasm. Alkaloid profiles of accessions were highly diverse, with morphine being dominant. Phylogenetic analysis identified genetic groups that were largely consistent with the subpopulations detected and that could be differentiated broadly based on traits such as number of branches and seed weight. These accessions and the associated genotypic data are valuable resources for further genetic diversity analysis, which could include definition of poppy core sets to facilitate genebank management and use of the diversity for genetic improvement of this valuable crop.
Highlights
Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.) is one of the oldest cultivated plant species
Most available reports of opium poppy genetic diversity are based on studies that either assessed small collections of germplasm from a single country or used a limited number of classical DNA markers such as amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs), random amplified polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs) and simple sequence repeat markers (SSRs)[13,14,22,23]
Some restriction enzymes (REs) combinations are often used in plants, the optimal combinations need to be determined for the genome of each species[31]
Summary
Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.) is one of the oldest cultivated plant species. Archaeological evidence shows that poppy has been cultivated and used for thousands of years, dating back to the earliest Neolithic ages[1,2,3,4]. Poppy is widely cultivated as both a licit and illicit crop in Asia, Europe, Oceania and South America[8,9,10] It is a source of several benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (BIAs) including morphine, codeine, thebaine, papaverine and noscapine for the pharmaceutical industry and for the clandestine production of heroin. Germplasm collections provide the genetic and phenotypic diversity used in crop breeding and development They are vital resources for research aimed at dissecting the genetic and molecular basis of essential plant processes including secondary/specialized metabolism. As the most abundant types of sequence variation in plant genomes, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are suitable for several applications that require high-density and genome-wide markers including genetic diversity and population structure analyses, QTL mapping and mapbased cloning[24,25]. Such studies could facilitate the development of poppy core sets, enabling the mapping and isolation of genes or genomic regions associated with traits of interest
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