engleski

Analysis of genetic diversity in Croatian fig (Ficus carica L.) germplasm using SSR markers

In Croatia, the common fig (Ficus carica L.) is one of the oldest cultivated fruit trees, commonly present in family orchards. Significant efforts have been made lately to collect national genetic resources to ensure their long- term conservation in ex situ collections, and thus, their sustainable management. In Croatia there are two ex situ fig germplasm collections, with 22 accessions officially registered in the Croatian Plant Genetic Resources Database. The aim of this study, carried out within the National programme for conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, was to characterize the collections and to assess the genetic diversity of collected fig germplasm. We genotyped 90 accessions from Croatian collections and six reference samples from a Slovenian database using five polymorphic SSR markers. A total of 24 alleles were detected, with the observed number of alleles per locus ranging from three (FCUP016-6) to seven (FCUP038-6) with an average of 4.8 alleles per locus. The neighbor-joining cluster analysis discriminated 30 genotypes and revealed five groups of accessions. The number of duplicated accessions and the cases of homonymy and synonymy has been determined and the genetic relationships among Croatian traditional fig cultivars have been assessed. Results obtained in this study can be used for germplasm conservation, breeding programs, nursery production improvement, and for optimizing a national strategy for the management of fig genetic resources.

Ficus carica, germplasm, national collections, genetic diversity, Croatia, microsatellite

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