Genetic diversity in Turkish eggplant (Solanum melongena) varieties as determined by morphological and molecular analyses

Abstract

In Turkey, local varieties of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) occur in several types (including round, semilong and long) and are a staple ingredient of the cuisine. Although Turkish eggplant varieties are morphologically distinct, little is known about their molecular genetic variation. In this study, the genetic variability of 67 Turkish eggplant accessions from the national germplasm collection was assessed with 30 morphological traits and AFLP markers. Morphological analysis indicated considerable variability especially for semi-long and round types. For molecular characterization, accessions of S. macrocarpon, S. aethiopicum and S. linnaeanum were included as outgroups. Ten primer combinations were used and yielded 488 polymorphic fragments with PIC values ranging from 0.03 to 0.50. Of the polymorphic fragments, 144 (29%) were specific to S. melongena accessions while 73, 49 and 16 fragments were specific to S. macrocarpon, S. aethiopicum and S. linnaeanum, respectively. UPGMA cluster analysis of the AFLP data resulted in a dendrogram which had a very high correlation (r=0.97) with the similarity matrix data. Genetic similarity in the dendrogram ranged from 0.30 to 0.95 with the related Solanum species located outside the S. melongena clusters, as expected. Genetic similarity of the S. melongena accessions ranged from 0.68 to 0.95 indicating good genetic diversity present in the Turkish national collection. It is hoped that this information, together with morphological data will help guide future germplasm collection and eggplant breeding efforts.