Eco-Geographical, Morphological and Molecular Characterization of a Collection of the Perennial Endemic Species Medicago tunetana (Murb.) A.W. Hill (Fabaceae) from Tunisia

In order to characterize and conserve the endemic pastoral species Medicago tunetana, many prospecting missions were carried out in mountainous regions of the Tunisian ridge. Twenty-seven eco-geographical and morphological traits were studied for six M. tunetana accessions and followed by molecular analysis using seven Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR). Only five markers were polymorphic and reproductible in the six M. tunetana populations. A total of 54 alleles were observed with an average of 10.8 bands/primer/genotype. Mean Polymorphism Information Content (PIC), Nei gene diversity (h) Shannon’s information index (I) indicated the high level of polymorphism. The generated dendrogram with hierarchical UPGMA cluster analysis grouped accessions into two main groups with various degree of subclustring. All the studied accessions shared 57% of genetic similarity. Analysis of variance showed high significant difference between morphological traits among M. tunetana populations where MT3 from Kesra showed different morphological patterns regarding leaf, pod and seeds traits. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed two principal groups of M. tunetana populations based on potassium, total and active lime contents in soil. Our results suggest that SSR markers developed in M. truncatula could be a valuable tool to detect polymorphism in M. tunetana. Furthermore, the studied morphological markers showed a large genetic diversity among M. tunetana populations. This approach may be applicable for the analysis of intra specific variability in M. tunetana accessions. Our study could help in the implementation of an effective and integrated conservation programs of perennial endemic Medicago.

Genetic Diversity Among Ten Maize Genotypes Using Simple Sequence Repeat DNA Markers

Genetic diversity among ten maize genotypes (seven inbred lines and three testers) was investigated using ten simple sequence repeats (SSRs). Primers (bnlg128, bnlg1839, Umc1117, bnlg1144, and bnlg1152) generated the highest number of bands (4 bands) for inbred lines while the primer bnlg128 showing the highest number of bands (3 bands) for testers. The primer bnlg128 shows the highest effective number of alleles (ne) for inbred lines and testers. Among the studied primer bnlg1839 in inbred lines and primer bnlg128 in testers showed the maximum polymorphism information content (PIC) and the greatest diversity. Using UPGMA cluster analysis, the seven inbred lines were grouped under three clusters, while grouped the testers under two clusters. Most of the inbred lines which were derived from the same source population were grouped in the same cluster based on the SSRs DNA markers, indicating high genetic differentiation among their source populations. Results showed that the SSRs were informative in detecting genetic differences among the maize inbred lines and testers, as exhibited by the high average of Shannon’s information index (I), Nei’s expected heterozygosity (Nei’s), and PIC. The results suggest that the studied genotypes are diverse and may be utilized for further breeding programs.

ISSR Marker Based Genetic Diversity in Morinda Spp. For Its Enhanced Collection, Conservation and Utilization

Morinda (Rubiaceae) is considerably recognized for its multiple uses viz. food, medicine, dyes, firewood, tools, oil, bio-sorbent etc. The molecular characterization of such an important plant would be very useful for its multifarious enhanced utilization. In the present study, 31 Morinda genotypes belonging to two different species Morinda citrifolia and Morinda tomentosa collected from different regions of India were investigated using Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) markers. Fifteen ISSR primers generated 176 bands with an average of 11.7 bands per primer, of which (90.34%) were polymorphic. The percentage of polymorphic bands, mean Nei’s gene diversity, mean Shannon’s information index in Morinda tomentosa and Morinda citrifolia was [(69.89%, 30.68%); (0.21 ± 0.19, 0.12 ± 0.20); (0.32 ± 0.27 0.17 ± 0.28)] respectively, revealing higher polymorphism and genetic diversity in Morinda tomentosa compared to Morinda citrifolia. Structure, and UPGMA cluster analysis placed the genotypes into well-defined separate clusters belonging to two species Morinda tomentosa and Morinda citrifolia revealing the utility of ISSR markers in species differentiation. Distinct ecotypes within a particular species could also be inferred emphasizing the collection and conservation of Morinda genotypes from different regions, in order to capture the overall diversity of respective species. Further higher diversity of M. tomentosa must be advanced for its utilization in nutraceutical, nutritional and other nonfood purposes.

Phenological Differences, Genetic Diversity, and Population Structure of Genotypes Obtained from Seeds of Kaman-1 Walnut Cultivar

Walnut (Juglans regia L.) is a diploid (2n = 32), deciduous, monoecious, and generally open-pollinated tree with nuts of high nutrient content. In this study, the phenological differences, genetic diversity, and population structure of Kaman-1 and its 79 progenies obtained by open pollination were characterized by ISSR primers and some important phenological traits. As a result of the phenological observations, it was determined that the progenies differ significantly from Kaman-1. Besides, using ISSR primers, walnut genotypes were found to have genetic similarities ranging from 0.52 to 0.99. UPGMA cluster analysis showed that accessions from 2 different groups were classified, and population structure analysis confirmed this finding. Based on the results, a significant variation both phenologically and genetically was found within the walnut accessions. Also, this study confirmed that the progenies obtained from the Kaman-1 walnut cultivar have a quite wide variation and that ISSR primers and phenological traits are an important tool in determining genetic diversity.

Distance Only Brings You Closer: Application of ISSR Markers to Analyze Molecular Relationships in Roses (Rosa spp.) - The Symbol of Love

Genetic diversity is inevitable in making any crop improvement program successful. DNA fingerprinting technology to assess the genetic relationship among the selected genotypes for identification and cataloging of different species and cultivars of roses is a promising tool for Rosa genomes. The inter-simple sequence repeats markers (ISSRs) were used to investigate the genetic diversity among twenty-one diverse Rosa genotypes belonging to two different species, Rosa hybrida and R. damascena, and three distinct groups of rose varieties, namely Hybrid Tea, Floribunda, and Damask roses. Twenty-four ISSR primers yielded a total of 280 scorable amplified fragments from 250-1800 bp in length, from which 244 were polymorphic, resulting in an average of 86.4% polymorphism. UPGMA cluster analysis based on Jaccard’s pairwise similarity coefficient values ranged from 0.264 to 0.818, clearly distinguished different species and genotypes, grouping them into three distinct clusters. The results confirmed a high degree of variation in the rose germplasm studied highlighting the potential of improvement in roses for the ornamental and perfume industry.

The intravarietal relationship among different accessions of Dolichos biflorus was checked based on protein profiling using SDS-PAGE.

In this study, the phylogenetic relationship within the selected Eleven Indian (Dolichos biflorus (horse gram) varieties was analyzed for total soluble seed protein. Twenty-five bands were documented through SDS PAGE based on 100 seed weight of each variety and were studied for genetic diversity. Jaccard’s similarity matrix was acquired and used in UPGMA cluster analysis based on the polymorphism generated by the presence (1) or absence (0) of protein bands. Thus, the dendrogram showed four major groups that corre-spond to an earlier study on polymorphisms of 11 accessions of Indian Dolichos. Signifi-cant correspondence between the clustering pattern and the pedigree was observed; thus, a high genetic diversity could be kept within the Dolichos varieties. A similarity matrix among the targeted genotypes and phylogenetic analysis is considered a unique feature in the present work. Therefore, the current investigation was carried out to analyse Protein diversity of unexplored Dolichos genotypes at the molecular level, construct a dendro-gram based on similarity band matrix and generate efficiency in genetic divergence analy-sis among Dolichos. This study underlines the importance of using genetic diversity based in the Dolichos breeding program.

Correlation in Seed Coat Colour and Pod Colour of French Bean Collected form Garhwal Himalayas

Uttarakhand is one of the most important sources of French bean and the landraces grown throughout Uttarakhand are valuable sources of genes for breeding Programme and evolutionary studies. The objective of our experiment was to study about the correlation between pod colour and seed coat colour. Thirty accessions of French bean were collected from different districts of Garhwal region of Uttarakhand. Two years field trials (2019 and 2020) were conducted and the seed and pod data were recorded. Frequency distribution, UPGMA cluster analysis and Mantel correlogram revealed that the accession whose pod colour was green (without any pattern), their seeds were also plane while the accessions whose pods were carrying some pattern or stripes their pods were also textured or mottled. The knowledge of correlation between seeds and pods can be used in French bean breeding Programme. The knowledge could be used to identify within accession variability in French bean germplasm to protect each type from extinction

Genetic Variability, Heritability, and Clustering Pattern Exploration of Bambara Groundnut (Vigna subterranea L. Verdc) Accessions for the Perfection of Yield and Yield-Related Traits

Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea L. Verdc.) is considered an emerging crop for the future and known as a crop for the new millennium. The core intention of this research work was to estimate the variation of landraces of Bambara groundnut considering their 14 qualitative and 27 numerical traits, to discover the best genotype fitted in Malaysia. The findings of the ANOVA observed a highly significant variation ( p ≤ 0.01 ) for all the traits evaluated. There was a substantial variation (7.27 to 41.21%) coefficient value, and 14 out of the 27 numerical traits noted coefficient of variation CV ≥ 20 % . Yield (kg/ha) disclosed positively strong to perfect high significant correlation ( r = 0.75 to 1.00; p ≤ 0.001 ) with traits like fresh pod weight, dry pod weight, and dry seed weight. The topmost PCV and GCV values were estimated for biomass dry (41.09%) and fresh (40.53%) weight with high heritability (Hb) and genetic advance (GA) Hb = 95.19 %, GA = 80.57 % and Hb = 98.52 %, GA = 82.86 %, respectively. The topmost heritability was recorded for fresh pod weight (99.89%) followed by yield (99.75%) with genetic advance 67.95% and 62.03%, respectively. The traits with Hb ≥ 60 % and G A ≥ 20 % suggested the least influenced by the environment as well as governed by the additive genes and direct selection for improvement of such traits can be beneficial. To estimate the genetic variability among accessions, the valuation of variance components, coefficients of variation, heritability, and genetic advance were calculated. To authenticate the genetic inequality, an unweighted pair group produced with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) and principal component analysis was executed based on their measurable traits that could be a steadfast method for judging the degree of diversity. Based on the UPGMA cluster analysis, constructed five distinct clusters and 44 accessions from clusters II and IV consider an elite type of genotypes that produce more than one ton yield per hectare land with desirable traits. This study exposed an extensive disparity among the landraces and the evidence on genetic relatives will be imperative in using the existing germplasm for Bambara groundnut varietal improvement. Moreover, this finding will be beneficial for breeders to choose the desirable numerical traits of V. subterranea in their future breeding program.

Genetic Diversity of Castanea sativa Mill. Accessions from the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines and Emilia Romagna Region (Italy)

This work investigated the genetic diversity of 134 Castanea sativa Mill. accessions present in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. Samples were taken from three collection fields (Granaglione, Zocca and Paloneta) in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. The accessions were analyzed by using 16 microsatellite markers (SSR). Genetic distances among accessions, calculated through the DICE coefficient, were used to construct an UPGMA cluster analysis. One major genotype (named “Marroni”) was identified across the three investigated collection fields; this variety corresponds to a sweet chestnut cultivar that has been propagated and widely diffused in the Emilia-Romagna region. Other genotypes were represented by different varieties of Italian chestnuts. The results of this study will be used to define and share guidelines for the characterization and varietal certification of the chestnut varieties in the Emilia-Romagna region.

Development and Characterization of Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) Markers from the Genomic sequence of Sweetpotato [Ipomoea batatas L. (Lam) cv. Taizhong6]

Background: Sweetpotato is a multifunctional root crop with many essential nutrients and bioactive compounds. Due to its genetic complexity and lack of genomic resources, efficient genetic studies, and cultivar development lags far behind other major crops. Simple sequence repeats (SSRs) offer an effective molecular marker technology for molecular-based breeding and for locating important loci in crop plants, but only a few have previously been developed in sweetpotato. Results: To further explore new SSR markers and accelerate its use in sweetpotato genetic studies, genome-wide characterization and development of SSR markers were performed using the recently published genome of sweetpotato cultivar, Taizhong6. In this study, a set of 2,431 primer pairs were developed from 133,727 SSRs identified in the sweetpotato genome using the Perl script MISA software. The average frequency was one SSR per 6.26 kb with dinucleotides (38.5%) being the most dominant repeat motif. The main motif types in all repeats were AT/AT, AAT/ATT, A/T, AAAT/ATTT, AAAAT/ATTTT and AAAAAT/ATTTTT accounting for 78.29% of the total SSRs. 50% of the 100 randomly selected primer pairs amplified 251 alleles and the average number of alleles was 5.02 alleles per locus with a range of 1 to 13 alleles. The UPGMA cluster analysis grouped the 24 sweetpotato materials into four clusters at a similarity coefficient of 0.68. Conclusion: The SSR markers currently developed will provide valuable genetic resources for germplasm identification, genetic diversity analysis, and functional genomics studies in sweetpotato and related species.