The objective of this study was to identify an efficient set of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers for sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) variety fingerprinting, relying on semi-automated analysis conditions. Based on criteria such as quality of amplification products, co-dominant and single locus, 78 SSR markers were selected and used to assess the genetic variability among a large set of 124 sunflower inbred lines, including 67 female maintainers (M lines) and 57 male restorers (R lines). They revealed a total of 276 alleles across the 124 elite inbred lines, with a mean of 3.5 alleles per SSR locus. The polymorphism index content per locus varied from 0.06 to 0.81, with an average of 0.51. Relationships among the inbred lines were studied using estimations of Rogers' distances. The great majority of the distance estimates ranged between 0.4 and 0.6, but distances between some pairs of lines were less than 0.1. The genetic diversity value was similar within each subset of R and M lines and low, but significant differentiation was found (GST = 0.049) between the two pools. The selected set of SSRs proved to be useful both for sunflower fingerprinting and genetic diversity assessment.Key words: genetic diversity, genotyping, Helianthus annuus, multiplex PCR, simple sequence repeats (SSR).
Genetic diversity assessment of Tanzanian sweetpotato genotypes using simple sequence repeat markers
