Molecular characterization of L. sativus L. collection based on ISSR markers

Inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) marker system was used to evaluate the genetic diversity of local and introduced grasspea (Lathyrus sativus L.) genotypes. A total of 144 bands were amplified using 10 ISSR markers, of which 122 were polymorphic among the accessions. The percentage of DNA polymorphism varied from 66.6% to 96%, with a mean of 86%. UBC 857, UBC 810 and UBC 835 with high effective multiplex ratio (EMR), marker index (MI) and resolving power (RP) values were estimated as the most informative primers for distinguishing L. sativus genotypes. High genetic diversity was detected in the grass pea germplasm. The genetic diversity index (GDI) ranged between 0.42 and 0.92, with an average value of 0.75 for the whole collection. The cluster analysis with 5000 bootstrapping value divided grasspea accessions into four major clusters. Most accessions were placed into the same cluster close to each other with regard to their botanical varieties. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) agreed with the cluster analysis and clearly discriminated the accessions into two genetically distinct groups. The first three coordinate axes accounted for 84.3% of the total variation. The result of the cluster and PCoA analyzes underline the importance of consideration of botanical variety traits in grasspea breeding programs. It can be concluded that the present germplasm constitutes an important pool of diversity for further genetic analysis, linkage mapping and breeding activities.