Morphology and SSR markers reveal the genetic diversity of Elymus species germplasm in northwestern China

Abstract

Abstract The relationship between the genetic diversity and genetic characteristics of wild plant germplasm can provide insights for better utilization and conservation of genetic resources. Bunchgrass species in the genus Elymus are important for forage and grassland restoration in Northwest China. In this study, eight phenotypic traits were evaluated in 81 accessions of four Elymus species in the northwest region of China, and genetic diversity analysis was performed using 16 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. In the phenotypic trait analysis, Elymus sibiricus had the highest coefficient of variation for single-plant weight(58.24%) and the lowest coefficient of variation for the number of spikelets(0.005%). Clustering based on phenotypic traits placed all varieties into four groups, which were also supported by principal component analysis (PCA). 16 pairs of SSR markers were screened with high polymorphism, with a polymorphism information content (PIC) range of 0.3648–0.7794 and an interspecific PIC range of 0.465–0.611 in Elymus species. The unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic mean approach applied to SSR marker data also divided the 81 accessions into four groups, similar to the results based on phenotypic traits. The results of PCA and population structure analysis based on SSR data were similar. The findings presented here will facilitate the collection and conservation of Elymus germplasm resources and provide theoretical references for the future classification, breeding, innovation, utilization, and conservation of germplasm.