Molecular characterization of parents and hybrid progenies of conilon coffee

The objective of the present work was the molecular characterization of 11 parents and 101 hybrid progenies of conilon coffee, obtained through diallel crosses from the breeding program of the Instituto Capixaba de Pesquisa, Assistência Técnica e Extensão Rural (Incaper, ES, Brazil). The analyses were performed with 18 Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) molecular markers, obtaining a total of 32 alleles. SSR markers were classified as moderately informative (PIC = 0.37), being efficient in characterizing individuals. High genetic diversity was verified in the 112 genotypes, based on the greater values of observed heterozygosity about to the expected heterozygosity (0.55 and 0.44, respectively), negative values for the fixation index (F) (-0.14), and the formation of distinct groups by UPGMA. These results indicate high genetic variability among the conilon coffee genitors, which remained similar and persisting in the progenies. The average dissimilarity between parents was 0.29 and between progenies 0.34. The progenies 38 and 40 and the parent P11 were considered the most divergent in the study. The genetic variability found can be explored in the genetic breeding of the conilon coffee and guide crossings between diversified and compatible genetic materials, for the composition of novel cultivars for the state of Espírito Santo.