Genetic Diversity of Iranian Sour Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) Germplasm Based on Microsatellite Markers

In this study, genetic variation of 238 genotypes of Iranian sour pomegranate (Yazd Pomegranate Collection) was studied based on single sequence repeated (SSR) markers. In order to assess the genetic relationships and population structure. Cluster analysis was performed by methods UPGMA and NJ with Mega4 software, structure analysis model-based Bayesian by Structure 2.2 software and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) with Ntsys software. SSR-MP26 and SSR-MP39 showed the highest (0.907) and lowest (0.544) PIC, respectively. Results of all mentioned methods showed that genotypes are generally clustered independently from their geographical origins and their proposed denomination suggesting that severe admixture in studied samples. These results showed that Yazd pomegranate collection might contain divergent pomegranate genotypes with analogue names or vice versa and needs to be confirmed by future studies.