Allelic diversity of Azerbaijani bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) by SSR markers

Abstract

The objectives of this research entailed studying genetic variation in 50 Azerbaijani wheat accessions from 6 different botanical varieties using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. On the basis of the seven SSR primers used in this work, 42 different alleles were observed among the wheat accessions studied with an average of six alleles per locus. Polymorphism information content (PIC) ranged from 0.428 to 0.772, revealing the existence of rich genetic diversity in Azerbaijani wheat accessions. The highest PIC values were calculated with the Xgwm190, Xgwm337, and Xgwm261 SSR primers with a mean value of 0.561. Cluster analysis representing the Nei genetic distance index among all samples divided the genotypes into nine separate groups. The ninth cluster included 12 genotypes, accounting for 24% of all genotypes analyzed. This group also included var. erythrospermum 3 and var. erythroleucon 9, which could not be distinguished based on the seven microsatellite markers; this may be due to their sharing of a similar genetic background. Samples of var. milturum botanical varieties were located at notable genetic distances from the other studied samples. These findings clearly indicate that SSR analysis can be used as a powerful tool for estimating the genotypic similarities, genetic diversity, and fingerprinting of Azerbaijani local wheat varieties.