Chloroplast derived SSRs reveals genetic relationships in domesticated alliums and wild relatives

Abstract

Alliums comprise of popular spices and used for various culinary purposes and nutraceuticals. Poor genetic characterization and scarce information regarding domestication, evolution of important alliums like onion, garlic and wild relatives are the major bottleneck to alliums improvement programs. In present study, chloroplast simple sequence repeat (cpSSR) markers were developed from Allium paradoxum plastome to examine the genetic relationships among onion, garlic and wild germplasms. A total of 15 cpSSR markers were used to establish genetic relationships in 18 individuals of alliums, producing 40 alleles ranging from 1 to 6 alleles per SSR locus and polymorphism potential of 100%.Average PIC and heterozygosities was found to be 0.392 and 0.330, respectively. The developed cpSSR significantly assisted the phylogenetic study and evolutionary relationships among various Allium species. In future, these cpSSR markers will be useful for varietal identification, purity testing and genetic improvement of alliums.