Transferability of SSR Markers used for Genetic Relationship to Five Species/Genera in Cucurbitaceae

Abstract

THIS STUDY assessed the genetic diversity and relationships among 24 local accessions across five genera of the Cucurbitaceae family including Lagenaria siceraria (gourd), Citrullus lanatus (‘’Egusi’’melon), Cucurbita pepo (pumpkin), Telfairia occidentalis (fluted pumpkin) and Trichosanthes cucumerina (snake tomato) based on the transferability of six L. siceraria (bottle gourd) and six C. pepo (pumpkin) derived SSR markers. The study revealed a high level of transferability of C. pepo markers, ranged from 83-100% across the genera/species. The transferability rate of the L. siceraria SSR markers was 66% within T. occidentalis and 83% in T. cucumerina. An average of 33% transferability of L. siceraria SSR markers amplified in C. pepo. The 12 SSR markers were polymorphic and a total of 109 alleles were obtained, ranging from 3 to 19 with an average of 9.08 per marker. The polymorphism information content (PIC) values ranged from 0.45 to 0.89 with an average of 0.79, indicating a high level of informativeness. Using un-weighted pair group method with arithmetic average cluster analysis (UPGMA), two groups of 15 and 9 accessions were identified, which comprised C. lanatus, Lagenaria siceraria and C. pepo, T. occidentalis and T. cucumerina accessions, respectively. The present study has shown the transferability of L. siceraria and C. pepo SSR markers across other genera in the Cucurbitaceae. The results also indicated the existence of a considerable level of inter/intraspecific genetic diversity and relationship among cucurbit species of the five genera under study.