Genotypic clustering of lentil variety samples using SSR-markers

Abstract

Lentils are an important agricultural crop, widely used in various production sectors and playing a vital role in ensuring the sustainable development of the agriculture. However, limited genetic diversity poses significant challenges to further progress in its improvement. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly important for breeders to determine the level of polymorphism in genotypes and productivity-related traits. This will allow expanding their genetic potential and selecting optimal parental forms for hybridization programs. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate genetic diversity among large-seeded lentil genotypes of Russian and foreign breeding using SSR markers. There have been studied 40 collection lentil samples of Russian and foreign breeding. Molecular genetic characterization was performed using 33 microsatellite markers (SSR) developed by Biolabmix LLC (Russia). Genomic DNA was isolated from the samples. The resulting amplicons were separated on a 2% agarose gel. There were identified 157 polymorphic alleles (Na), averaging 4,76 alleles per marker. The largest number of studied alleles (Na) was recorded for SSR 90 (8), while each of SSR 96, SSR 130, SSR 204, and SSR 107 had three alleles. The number of effective alleles (Ne) ranged from 1,72 (SSR 48) to 6,32 (SSR 90). The most informative markers were SSR 113, SSR 119, SSR 124, SSR 156, and SSR 199, demonstrating high resolution in identifying molecular genetic diversity among lentil genotypes. Primer SSR 90 was the most polymorphic, with the largest number of alleles (8). A dendrogram constructed using the UPGMA method has divided all studied genotypes into five clusters characterized not only by genetic contrast but also by significant differences in a range of economically valuable traits.