Investigation of Genetic Variation In Berberis Vulgaris Using ISSR and SSR Molecular Markers

Barberry fruit is a medicinal plant, and it is one of the most important horticultural crops in South Khorasan province, Iran. Genetic diversity has a basic role in the successful breeding of crop varieties with durable resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. The main objective of this study was to assess the genetic diversity of 20 ecotypes of Berberis, which collected from different regions of South Khorasan province, Iran, using ISSR and SSR markers. In this study, 10 ISSR primers and 5 SSR primer pairs, with the amplification of suitable polymorphic alleles were used. A total of 98 bands for ISSR markers and 43 bands for SSR markers were detected between 300 to 1300 bp and 100 to 1100 bp in size, respectively. Polymorphic ISSR-7 and CA03 primers amplified the highest number of alleles with 17 and 24 bands, respectively, while ISCS50 and CA30 primers amplified only two polymorphic alleles. The ISCS57 and GA31 primers had the highest polymorphic information content (PIC) and ISCS50 and GA04 primers had the lowest PIC. The estimated Nei's and Shannon indices for genetic diversity in ISSR markers were 0.24 and 0.35, while for SSR markers these were 0.23 and 0.34, respectively. Based on cluster analysis, five and six main groups were identified for ISSR and SSR markers, showing high genetic variations among a set of collected barberry ecotypes. Analysis of molecular variances in both ISSR and SSR markers showed that high level of total variation was due to within populations, rather. Therefore, it will be better to select within populations in breeding programs.