Assessment of Genetic Diversity and Relatedness in an Andean Potato Collection from Argentina by High-Density Genotyping

Native potatoes are the most diverse among cultivated potato species and thus constitute a valuable source for identifying genes for potato improvement. Nevertheless, high-density mapping, needed to reveal allelic diversity, has not been performed for native Argentinian potatoes. We present a study of the genetic variability and population structure of 96 Andigena potatoes from Northwestern Argentina performed using a subset of 5035 SNPs with no missing data and full reproducibility. These high-density markers are distributed across the genome and present a good coverage of genomic regions. A Bayesian approach revealed the presence of: (I) a major group comprised of most of the Andean accessions; (II) a smaller group containing the out-group cv. Spunta and the sequenced genotype DM; and (III) a third group containing colored flesh potatoes. This grouping was also consistent when maximum likelihood trees were constructed and further confirmed by a principal coordinate analysis. A group of 19 accessions stored as Andean varieties clustered consistently with group Tuberosum accessions. This was in agreement with previous studies and we hypothesize that they may be reintroductions of European-bred long day-adapted potatoes. The present study constitutes a valuable source for allele mining of genes of interest and thus provides a tool for association mapping studies

Genetic Diversity in Argentine Andean Potatoes by Means of Functional Markers

Andean Potato is a major crop for farmers in the Andes and represents an important gene pool for potato improvement. We present the population structure and genetic diversity of 88 Andigena accessions collected in Northwestern Argentina based on functional markers (25 SSR) distributed along 12 chromosomes. Polymorphic information content ranged from 0.40 to 0.87. A Bayesian approach, a Principal Coordinate Analysis and a Cluster Analysis revealed the presence of: I) a major group containing most of the Andean accessions and II) a smaller group including the out-group cv. Spunta and the sequenced genotype DM. Several group specific alleles were detected. AMOVA showed that 81% of the variability was within each group. Eleven of the SSRs analyzed are linked or within genes reported to regulate traits of nutritional and industrial interest. Additionally, the allelic variant of a photoperiod dependent tuberization regulator gene, StCDF1.2, was exclusively detected in accessions clustered in group II.Fil: Monte, Marcelo Nicolás. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Rey, María Florencia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Carboni, Martín Federico. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Castellote, Martín Alfredo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Sucar, Sofía. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Norero, Natalia Sigrid. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Colman, Silvana Lorena. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Massa, Gabriela Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Colavita, Mónica Liliana. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Feingold, Sergio. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires; Argentin