Genetic Diversity Assessment of Spanish and Some Endangered Tunisian Pea (Pisum sativum L.) Accessions Based on Microsatellite Markers (SSRs)

In the current investigation, 28 accessions of Spanish and Tunisian peas were characterized by eight SSR polymorphic markers to assess their genetic diversity. Many methods have been applied to evaluate these relationships including diversity indices, analysis of molecular variance, cluster analysis, and population structure. The means of diversity indices, the polymorphism information content (PIC), the allelic richness, and the Shannon information index were 0.51, 3.87, and 0.9, respectively. These results revealed a large polymorphism (84.15 %) which produced a higher degree of genetic distance amongst the accessions. The unweighted pair group approach with arithmetic mean divided the collection of these accessions into three major genetic clusters. Therefore, this article has clearly demonstrated the usefulness of the SSR markers that can significantly contribute to the management and conservation of pea germplasm in these countries, as well as to future reproduction.

Automated summary

In this study, 28 accessions of Spanish and Tunisian peas were characterized using eight SSR polymorphic markers to assess their genetic diversity. Various methods, including diversity indices, analysis of molecular variance, cluster analysis, and population structure, were applied to evaluate their relationships. The results showed a high level of polymorphism (84.15%) and a significant genetic distance among the accessions. Furthermore, the SSR markers successfully divided the accessions into three major genetic clusters. Therefore, this study demonstrates the usefulness of SSR markers for the management and conservation of pea germplasm in these countries, as well as for future reproduction.