Construction and validation of core collections in Pisum sp. using different methodologies

Core collections contribute to a better utilization of accessions in breeding programs. Eighty-five accessions from a collection of Pisum germplasm were evaluated during 2015 and 2016. Phenotypic values of 12 morphological traits were measured and genotypic values (BLUP) were calculated. Molecular characterization was performed assaying a total of 15 SSR and 25 SRAP primer combinations. Four Cluster Analysis (phenotypic values, genotypic values, molecular markers and consensus) and four strategies to determine the number of accessions selected (constant, logarithmic, proportional and maximization strategies) were applied to construct 16 core collections. Validation of the core collections were performed through Mean difference percentage (MD), Variance difference percentage (VD), Coincidence rate of range (CR) Variable rate of coefficient of variation (VR), Shannon diversity index (SW) and the Taxonomy coverage (TC). The logarithmic strategy with data on genotypic values was the best strategy, while the least strategy was the proportional strategy with molecular marker data.