GENETIC ANALYSIS OF 38 DOUBLE-FLOWERED AMARYLLIS (Hippeastrum hybridum) CULTIVARS BASED ON SRAP MARKERS

Abstract

The genetic diversity and population structure of 38 commercial accessions of double-flowered amaryllis (Hippeastrum hybridum) from the Netherlands and South Africa were evaluated using sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers. Thirty SRAP primer pairs produced 294 loci, of which 263 (89.16%) were polymorphic. A relatively high level of genetic diversity was observed, with estimates of Nei’s diversity index (H) and the Shannon information index (I) of 0.2719 and 0.4158, respectively. Additional genetic distance- and STRUCTURE-based analyses clustered all accessions into two or four subgroups based mostly on origin or color. The genetic differentiation between/among countries and inferred groups was significant, with Fst values ranging from 0.083-0.194%. Accessions from the Netherlands showed higher genetic variation than those from South Africa. Several accessions, such as Aphrodite, are recommended for future programs employing selective hybridization with the goal of expanding the color range. The results of the present study provide appropriate information applicable to designing effective breeding programs for double-flowered amaryllis.