Genetic diversity in cultivated groundnut based on SSR markers.

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is an important source crop for edible oil and protein. It is important to identify the genetic diversity of peanut genetic resources for cultivar development and evaluation of peanut accessions. Thirty-four SSR markers were used to assess the genetic variation of four sets of twenty-four accessions each from the four botanical varieties of the cultivated peanut. Among the tested accessions, ten to sixteen pairs of SSR primers showed polymorphisms. The maximum differentiation index, which was defined as the degree of genetic differentiation, was as high as 0.992 in the tested accessions. Each accession could be discriminated by a specific set of polymorphic SSR primers, and the intra-variety genetic distance was determined among accessions, with an average of 0.59 in var. fastigiata 0.46 in var. hypogaea 0.38 in var. vulgaris and 0.17 in var. hirsuta. Dendrogrames based on genetic distances were constructed for the four botanical varieties, which revealed the existence of different clusters. It was concluded that there was abundant intra-variety SSR polymorphism, and with more and more SSR markers being developed, the intrinsic genetic diversity would be detected and the development of genetic map and marker-assisted selection for cultivated peanut would be feasible.