Genetic diversity among Juglans regia L. genotypes assessed by morphological traits and microsatellite markers

Abstract

In this study, genetic diversity was assayed among 16 accessions and five cultivars of Persian walnut (Juglans regia L.) using morphological traits and nine simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Samples were collected from Agriculture Research Center of Urmia city (North West Iran). Study on important morphological traits revealed genetic similarity of -0.6 to 0.99 based on CORR coefficient. The microsatellite marker system produced 34 alleles in range of 160-290 bp. The minimum (2) and maximum (7) number of alleles were obtained from WGA71 and WGA202 genetic loci, respectively. The mean number of alleles per locus was 4.25. Jaccard’s similarity coefficient ranged from 0.13 to 0.76. The results of this paper indicate high diversity among these genotypes which could be used for breeding management.

Keywords

• walnut
• SSR markers
• cluster analysis
• breeding programs