Evaluation of Genetic Diversity of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Genotypes Based on Morphological Traits and CDDP and SCoT Markers

Identification of genetically resources variability is one of the key factors for conservation of germplasm and their potential of breeding for the future. In order to study the genetic diversity of chickpea, thirty genotypes were analyzed using 11 Conserved DNA-Derived Polymorphism (CDDP) and nine Start Codon Targeted (SCoT) Polymorphism markers. Genotypes were cultivated in a randomized complete block design with three replications in the Sanandaj Islamic Azad University farm. During the experiment, some morphological traits such as seed yield, biomass, harvest index, 100-seed weight, number of seeds/pod and plant height were scored. Based on the result, matrix of genetic distance ranged from 0.24 to 0.77 in CDDP and from 0.37 to 0.88 in SCoT markers. The level of polymorphism generated by CDDP markers (91%) was relatively similar to SCoT (88%) markers. Cluster analysis for CDDP and SCoT markers divided genotypes in three groups. Results of the study suggested superiority of CDDP and SCoT over other used marker techniques due to their high resolution and high variability in detection of genomic information, therefore, CDDP and SCoT are introduced as new molecular markers system for evaluation of chickpea germplasm.