Evaluation of blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum) germplasm structure by microsatellite-based fingerprinting for the diversification of the breeding material

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Blackcurrants are an important berry crop whose further development depends mainly on the diversity of available plant material and its successful inclusion in the breeding. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to evaluate selected SSR markers’ applicability for the analysis of germplasm consisting of genotypes developed through complicated multistage crosses among different Ribes species and estimate the genetic structure and level of genetic diversity of the blackcurrant collection. METHODS: The set of 110 blackcurrant accessions from the Latvian genetic resources collection was genotyped using 18 previously described SSR markers. RESULTS: The marker set provided all genotypes with unique fingerprints and proved the need for reference genotypes in international studies for data validation. The accessions clustered according to pedigree and did not group by country of origin or breeding programme. CONCLUSIONS: The tested SSR markers uncovered relationships between blackcurrant accessions of complicated interspecific composition and revealed an extensive mutual exchange of germplasm among breeding programmes, thus pointing to the need for new donors of valuable characteristics. The results also highlighted the necessity to identify each species’ proportion in the hybrid material to assess the impact of species-linked gene expression.