Population structure and genetic diversity among Indian wheat varieties using microsatellite (SSR) markers

Abstract

Platform for improvement of crop plants is largely setup by the genetic variability studies. The current work was performed to assess the status of genetic diversity among 319 Indian wheat varieties so that they can be used effectively for future breeding practices. Out of 30 markers applied, 50 polymorphic fragments generated from16 polymorphic primers were selected for diversity studies. Jaccob's similarity model and Bayesian analysis were performed using software package DARwin 5.0 and STRUCTURE 2.3.3 respectively. Grouping obtained from both the analysis were found to be consistent and was helpful in analyzing the distribution of genetic variability across different centres of wheat research in India. The total genetic diversity for all groups (Ht) was 0.38888 and within groups (Hs) was 0.3130 indicating less genetic variability among sub-populations (Gst=0.19). Gene flow (Nm) was also found to be relatively high with a value of 2.0654. Genetic variability parameters computed using POPGENE 1.32 (81%) and AMOVA (78.5%) revealed that the genetic diversity was mainly contained within the populations. This study can complement the breeding programs for identification of parental combinations effectively to maintain maximum genetic variability in progenies.