Molecular characterization of commercial and introduced sunflower genotypes using AFLP technique

Abstract

One hundred and thirty nine AFLP markers were used to study 27 sunflower Helianthus annuus genotypes. The percentage of polymorphic markers ranged from 19.23% for E41M61primer to 36.84% for E35M59, On the other hand Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) values were clearly close to each other with an average of 0.37.

Similarity analysis gave high values when both polymorphic and monomorphic markers are used. They ranged from 0.797 between 441 and Hysum33 to 0.985 between Ghab4 and Ghab5. However, using only polymorphic markers notably decreased the similarity factor, especially between 441 and Hysum33 (0.156). Statistical analysis using Paired groups algorithm and Jaccard index showed some clusters like Ghab group, which also included Madakh Halab and Sfira Halab, this could be explained by a common ancestor. Results presented in this work indicate a high genetic diversity among genotypes and suggest on a molecular basis the best parents for future breeding programs.