Genetic diversity analysis in valencia peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) using microsatellite markers

Cultivated peanut or groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L) is an important source of oil and protein. Considerable variation has been recorded for morphological, physiological and agronomic traits, whereas few molecular variations have been recorded for this crop. The identification and understanding of molecular genetic diversity in cultivated peanut types will help in effective genetic conservation along with efficient breeding programs in this crop. The New Mexico breeding program has embarked upon a program of improvement of Valencia peanut (belonging to the sub species fastigiata), because efforts to improve the yield potential are lacking due to lack of identified divergent exotic types. For the first time, this study has shown molecular diversity using microsatellite markers in the cultivated Valencia peanut (sub spp. fastigiata) from around the globe. In this investigation, 48 cultivated Valencia peanut genotypes have been selected and analyzed using 18 fluorescently labeled SSR (f-SSR) primer pairs. These primer pairs amplified 120 polymorphic loci among the genotypes screened and amplified from 3 to 19 alleles with an average of 6.9 allele per primer pair. The f-SSR marker data was further analyzed using cluster algorithms and principal component analysis. The results indicated that (1) considerable genetic variations were discovered among the analyzed genotypes; (2) The f-SSR based clustering could identify the putative pedigree types of the present Valencia types of diverse origins, and (3) The f-SSR in general is sufficient to obtain estimates of genetic divergence for the material in study. The results are being utilized in our breeding program for parental selection and linkage map construction.