Genetic diversity analysis of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) genotypes making use of SSR markers

Abstract

In this study, we aimed to investigate the genetic diversity and polymorphism among 30 soybean genotypes maintained by the ARC using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Soybean genotypes were characterized using 20 SSR primers. DNA was extracted using the standard cetyl trimethylammonium bromide method and amplified using PCR. Allele size was determined via comparison with a 100 base pair (bp) DNA ladder. Molecular data were analyzed, and a dendrogram and matrix were generated using GGT 2.0 software. A total of 216 alleles with an average of 10.8 alleles per locus were detected. The allele sizes ranged between 2 and 33 bp with an average of 18.7 bp. The polymorphic information content among genotypes varied from 0.85 (Satt001) to 0.75 (Satt43) with an average of 0.716, and heterozygosity ranged from 0.87 to 0.78 with an average of 0.7485. The most diverse genotypes were B 66 S 31, 69S 7, and R5-4-2 M, which indicated the efficiency of the SSR markers for the detection of genetic diversity. The results of the current study revealed the diversity among the soybean genotypes tested, which might aid breeders in the future in the selection of parents for breeding.