Characterization of pepper accessions using molecular markers linked to pungency and SSR

Abstract

Peppers of the genus Capsicum are of great socioeconomic importance, being pungency trait their main attraction. Pungency characterization, genetic distance estimates and population structure analysis of the accessions belonging to germplasm banks are important for parent selection which allows to obtain superior progenies. Therefore, the aims of this study were: i) evaluate 81 accessions of the Capsicum spp. Germplasm Bank of Universidade Federal de São Carlos (BGC-UFSCar) with molecular markers linked to pungency; ii) estimate the genetic diversity among accessions of the BGC-UFSCar using microsatellite markers (SSR); and iii) evaluate the efficiency of these markers in the distinction among species of Capsicum spp. We noticed that pun1 1 and SNP molecular markers were efficient in predicting the pungent phenotype of BGC-UFSCar accessions in 84.85% and 95.59%, respectively. From a total of 13 amplified microsatellite markers, seven were polymorphic and efficient to discriminate species of Capsicum genus, both through genetic diversity analysis and population structure analysis, which showed three subpopulations. The molecular markers used in this study are useful tools for breeding programs since they were able to characterize and discriminate Capsicum spp. species at DNA level. Information obtained with molecular markers can assist in the selection of contrasting parents for future breeding programs.

Exploring the genetic makeup and population structure among Capsicum accessions for crop improvement and breeding curriculum insights

“…A significant polymorphism within the accession is measured by DP while lower and higher values of DP represent highly and reasonably polymorphic nature of marker between the accessions. In this study, DP ranged from 0.45 to 0.89 with an average of 0.7 DP in different chilli accessions which is in consensus with outcome of several analysis performed with ISSR makers in different plant species [36,76,77], whereas in chilli germplasm using 7 SSR primers an average DP value of 0.40 was observed [58]. On the basis of allelic frequency, the informativeness of makers may vary between the gene pool but the most informative remark is designated to those makers which exhibits increased DP value which corresponds to high discriminatory power in gene pools [36,78].…”

“…Though morphological and biochemical characters are credible scores for evaluating variation in Capsicum species but are also subject to change under different environmental conditions [55,56], therefore accessing genetic diversity using molecular markers is more advantageous because molecular markers are phenotypically neutral and not regulated by environmental conditions. Several workers have attempted to unveil genetic diversity in Capsicum species using various molecular markers, such as AFLP [57], SSRs [58], RAMPO [59], and RAPD [60], but extensive studies using ISSR markers are sparsely available [61]. ISSR markers are dominant markers comprising of polymorphic arbitory primers with high reproducibility and requiring high stringency in PCR conditions compared to RAPD markers system.…”

Caracterización morfoagronómica de la colección de germoplasma de ají dulce (Capsicum spp.) del caribe colombiano

“…Así mismo, el germoplasma de Capsicum ha sido objeto de diversos estudios de caracterización morfológica, agronómica, bioquímica, molecular y funcional entre otros, tanto a nivel mundial como en Colombia, a fin de identificar accesiones que sirvan como fuentes de genes en el mejoramiento de características para la resistencia a estreses abióticos y bióticos y de otros rasgos de interés (contenidos de capsaicina, carotenoides, formas, tamaños, colores, etc.) para las diferentes agroindustrias demandantes de ajíes (Villota-Cerón et al, 2012, Araújo et al, 2019Guzmán et al, 2019;Jesus et al, 2019;Mendes et al, 2019;Rahevar et al, 2019).…”