Evaluation of the Genetic Structure of Some Accessions Belonging to Onobrychis spp. Using Microsatellite DNA Markers

Abstract

Turkey is in a very convenient position for animal husbandry in terms of both natural resources and ecological conditions. Forage crops, which has a very important place in agricultural activities, is the insurance of plant and animal production. Sainfoin is a perennial forage legume species that grown in the northern temperate regions of the world from the Mediterranean region and the Caucasus, and to Central Asia. In this study the genetic diversity of 100 genotypes representing 44 accessions from 18 different Onobrychis species (O. arenaria subsp. arenaria, O. inermis, O. petraea, O. cyri, O. iberica, O. altissima, O. vassilczenkoi, O. conferta subsp. argentea, O. alba subsp. laconica, O. biebersteinii, O. grandis, O. kachetica, O. kemulariae, O. oxyodonta, O. megataphros, O. pallasii, Onobrychis spp., and O. viciifolia) were evaluated using 8 simple sequence repeat (microsatellite) markers. Based on the results, OVK036, OVK094, OVK125, OVM033, OVK161, OVK046, OVM061, and OVK174 loci were polymorphic. The observed number of alleles per SSR locus ranged from 6 to 21 alleles (mean of 11.625). Maximum allele frequency ranged from 0.51 to 0.93 with a mean value of 0.73. The PIC value ranged from 0.124 to 0.244. The mean polymorphism information content of loci was 0.188. Genetic diversity coefficients according to the UPGMA ranged from 0.000 to 0.9375. Cluster analysis divided the 100 sainfoin genotypes into two main groups (Cluster-I and Cluster-II). All diploid genotypes (except for 1 diploid genotype) used in the study formed a separate group within Cluster-I. The results revealed that SSR markers used in this study are useful for molecular characterization and assessing genetic diversity of sainfoin accessions. The obtained SSR alleles and genetic variability in a studied certain loci provided significant information about the genetic structure of sainfoin accessions that could be used as parental lines in sainfoin breeding programs.