Genetic diversity of chickpea genotypes as revealed by ISSR and RAPD markers

Genetic diversity of 62 chickpea accessions was studied using 8 ISSR and 11 RAPD primers. In the study RAPD primers detected more polymorphism (98%) than the ISSR primers (80%). Genetic diversity index was high (0.73 for ISSR and 0.85 for RAPD) for each of these marker systems. Cluster analysis performed from both separate and combined data of RAPD and ISSR markers using SPSS software package. Jaccard’s similarity coefficient for 62 chickpea genotypes was 0.65. Cluster analyses based on combined data generated a dendrogram that separated genotypes into 11 clusters. Four clusters contained only one genotype showing the genetic uniqueness of these accessions. The studied chickpea collection has been proved to constitute a rich source of biodiversity as revealed by RAPD and ISSR markers. Crossing between distantly related genotypes is expected to yield more vigorous plants constituting much of the different traits contained in the two parental lines

Assessment of genetic diversity and search for Plum pox virus resistance alleles of apricot<i> (Prunus</i><i> armeniaca</i> L.) genotypes spread in Azerbaijan using SSR markers

Apricot is one of the most important stone-fruit plants widely cultivated in Azerbaijan. SSR markers were used to evaluate the genetic diversity of 61 apricot genotypes representing the entire gene pool in Azerbaijan. A total of 138 alleles were produced based on 17 SSR markers with an average of 8.1 alleles per primer. The polymorphism information content (PIC) and expected (He) heterozygosity for individual loci were in the range of 0.42-0.8 (mean 0.68) and 0.52-0.82 (mean 0.72), respectively, indicating the abundant genetic variation in Azerbaijani apricot cultivars. The polymorphisms generated by SSRs were enough to differentiate 95% of genotypes, while 4 apricot cultivars exhibited complete similarity between them. NJ tree grouped the 61 genotypes into 7 clusters with 1000 bootstrap values, where the grouping of genotypes was not closely related to the geographic origin or collection site. STRUCTURE analysis identified 4 subpopulations in the collection and, in general, was in agreement with cluster analysis. (SEO)/Harlayne-type resistance alleles of three SSR (PGS1.21-240 bp, PGS1.23-161 bp, PGS1.24-119 bp) and one SSLP loci (ZP002-127 bp) were detected in 3, 15, 15, and 9 accessions, respectively. STRUCTURE analysis could separate genotypes with resistance alleles grouping them in the first two subpopulations. Of the 61 apricot genotypes, 28 had at least one resistance allele. The results demonstrate that Azerbaijani apricots are an important source for breeding PPV-resistant apricots

Genetic relationship among introduced lentil germplasm using agronomic traits and ISSR markers

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) is an annual, cool-season grain legume playing an important role in human and animal nutrition, as soil fertility maintenance. National lentil improvement program in Azerbaijan is currently focused on extending the genetic base of the lentil collection through the introduction of new breeding lines from ICARDA and involving them into breeding. The present study was aimed to evaluate the performance of lentil collection, mainly comprised of ICARDA-derived breeding lines for yield traits under Azerbaijan condition and assess genetic diversity among them using inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR) markers. Many breeding lines of ICARDA exhibited agro-morphological performance superior to those of the local improved varieties. Our studies confirmed that the genetic base of the studied lentil collection is quite above board. A total of 71 bands were generated using 7 ISSR primers in 47 lentil genotypes, of which 62 were polymorphic. Genetic diversity values varied from 0.61 (UBC 848) to 0.95 (UBC 835), with a mean of 0.81. ISSR dendrogram was able to clearly distinguish all lentil accessions. Clear tendention was observed on clustering of genotypes according to their pedigree or origin with few exeptions. The results obtained from the Principal Coordinate Analysis were consistent with the results of cluster analysis, with minor differences. Breeding lines with high agronomic performance and sufficient genetic distance from this study can be used as appropriate parents to get more heterotic recombinants. This will accelerate the creation of new varieties well adapted to eco-geographic condition of Azerbaijan with stable and high yield