Assessment of the Genetic Diversity Among Potato Cultivars from Different Geographical Areas Using the Genomic and EST Microsatellites

BACKGROUND: Potato has a narrow genetic base which is due to its development, as it takes its genetic root from a few genotypes originated from South America. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to assess the genetic relationships among potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) genotypes originated from different geographical regions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study has rendered 25 useful SSRs and EST-SSRs that were located in pre-existing genetic maps, fingerprinted in a collection of the 47 potato genotypes from America, Europe and Iran. RESULTS: The number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 9 with an average of 6.22 alleles per locus. UPGMA dendrogram, constructed from microsatellite data based on Jaccard similarity coefficient slightly clustered the American and European potatoes according to their geographical distribution. Iranian genotype, "Istanbuli", joined to a group with American genotype. The results indicated that American genotypes show the highest expected heterozygosity compared to the European genotype. This result was expected due to the narrow genetic base of European potatoes considering their origin from a limited number of introductions. CONCLUSIONS: It could be concluded that SSR is an appropriate marker for evaluating genetic diversity within and among potatoes from different geographical regions.