Assessment of Genetic Diversity of Moroccan Cultivated Almond (<i>Prunus dulcis</i> Mill. DA Webb) in Its Area of Extreme Diffusion, Using Nuclear Microsatellites

Abstract

Assessment of genetic diversity of Moroccan cultivated almond (Prunus dulcis Mill.) grown from seed and cultivated at four eco-geographical regions was performed using 16 nuclear SSRs. 238 alleles were detected with an average of 14.88 alleles per locus, ranging from 4 (locus BPPCT027) to 24 (locus CPSCT018). The size of alleles ranged from 84 bp (locus UDP96-003) to 253 bp (locus UDP96-018). A high genetic diversity of the local almonds is apparent and structured into three major clusters (Oasis cluster, High and Anti Atlas cluster, and Middle Atlas cluster). Compared to the Mediterranean genetic pools, from the East to West, the genetic diversity tends to be limited in Morocco which is the area of its extreme diffusion.

Molecular analyses of evolution and population structure in a worldwide almond [Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.A. Webb syn. P. amygdalus Batsch] pool assessed by microsatellite markers

“…Observed heterozygosity ranged between 0.24 (EPDCU5100) and 0.96 (CPDCT045), with an average of 0.62 across the 17 SSRs. The average heterozygosity value of 0.62 is lower than 0.72 obtained by Fernández i Martí et al (2009), but slightly higher than 0.59 obtained byElhamzaoui et al (2012) and 0.59 obtained byMartínez-Gómez et al (2003).…”

“…and 14.88 reported byElhamzaoui et al (2012), but much higher than the value of 4.7 obtained byMartínez-Gómez et al (2003). BPPCT001, BPPCT025, CPPCT044, CPDCT25 and BPPCT039 markers detected the highest number of alleles (26) among the 158 genotypes analyzed.…”

Morphological and molecular diversity and genetic structure of Moroccan cultivated almond (Prunus dulcisMill.) beside some foreign varieties

“…Similarly, Talhouk et al (2000) and Sorkheh et al (2009) found that almond populations located in dry areas have smaller leaf sizes than those located in humid regions. This result indicates a decrease in morphological diversity, similar to the restriction in molecular diversity level as reported by El Hamzaoui et al (2012) for almonds in Morocco compared with the centre of origin. Differences in pomological characteristics between varieties are associated with the origin of the plant material wherein some traits are improved in foreign varieties, but have not yet been established in the Moroccan accessions.…”

“…Among the various molecular markers, microsatellites, defined as short tandem repeats, are widely used because of their high frequency and dispersion throughout the genome (in both coding and non-coding regions), high polymorphism, co-dominant inheritance, transferability to related taxa, and reproducibility (Gupta et al, 1996;Martínez-Gómez et al, 2007;Wünsch, 2009;El Hamzaoui et al, 2012. Among the various molecular markers, microsatellites, defined as short tandem repeats, are widely used because of their high frequency and dispersion throughout the genome (in both coding and non-coding regions), high polymorphism, co-dominant inheritance, transferability to related taxa, and reproducibility (Gupta et al, 1996;Martínez-Gómez et al, 2007;Wünsch, 2009;El Hamzaoui et al, 2012.…”

Identification of Genetic Loci Associated with Quality Traits in Almond via Association Mapping

“…Over the last decade, SSR markers have proven to be a marker of choice in many breeding programs due to their abundance, co-dominance and feasibility. These markers are still being used today for linkage mapping and genetic diversity analysis in many crop plants, such as almond [ 12 , 31 ]. In the present work, we used a set of 40 genomic SSR markers spanning the almond genome to evaluate population structure and to identify the genetic mechanisms underlying inheritance of chemical and physical almond seed traits.…”