Background Alfalfa(Medicago sativa L.) is a perennial plant, which is high in nutritional value and resistant to environmental conditions, and it is one of most frequently preferred feed crop among the leguminous family. In this study, it was aimed to determine the genetic diversity of some alfalfa ecotypes and their varieties by DNA, protein, nucleus, and chromosome counts. The genetic distance between the populations of control (M. truncatula), five different cultivars (Alsancak, Bilensoy, Iside, Plato, Bilensoy82), and three different ecotypes (Erzurum, Muş, and Konya) was investigated by cytogenetic analysis, flow cytometry, simple sequence repeats (SSR), and SDS PAGE techniques. Results Cytogenetic analysis of these tested plants has verified the existence of expected levels such as diploid, triploid, and tetraploid as well as aneuploid (2n = 4x = 30) plants. Flow cytometry analysis have displayed that all of tested plants were tetraploid, whereas cytological analysis had either diploid, triploid, or tetraploid. Genetic diversity dendrogram was created using Erzurum, Muş, Konya, Bilensoy82, Alsancak, and Plato varieties. The Iside and Bilensoy were found to be morphogenetic in relationship. Our control plant, M. truncatula, did not have a similarity relationship with other ecotypes and cultivars. The total numbers of protein bands differed among tested plants from 140 kDA to 25 kDa. Conclusions This paper first reports on the genetic variation of Turkish alfalfa plants by using detailed analysis techniques. This work provides important findings for the classification, conservation, and innovation of alfalfa germplasm resources.

Sufficient knowledge of genetic variation and germplasm classification is necessary to select suitable parents for breeding purposes. Effective and repeatable tissue culture method is a prerequisite for genetic engineering of pea genotypes (Pisum arvense L.). In this study, genetic diversity of forty-two pea genotypes (Pisum arvense L.) was evaluated based on callus induction capacity, embryogenic callus production and plant regeneration ability. Significant variation was observed among genotypes based on tissue culture parameters. The results of ANOVA indicated significant (P<0.01) differences among genotypes for traits callus induction, embryogenic callus, responded embryogenic callus, number of somatic embryos, responded somatic embryogenesis, regeneration efficiency and number of regenerated plantlet. Cluster analysis based on the tissue culture traits classified the genotypes into four groups. The highest genetic distance was observed between Subatan and Ovaçevirme-3 genotypes. The relationships among parameters related to tissue culture were investigated by principle component analysis (PCA). The PCA1 and PCA2 axes accounted 80.43% of total variation, mainly distinguish the indices in different groups.