Evaluation of Genetic Diversity of Spring Onions (Allium fistulosum) Based on DNA Markers

Abstract

The Alliaecae family is a widely cultivated vegetable family in Nigeria, with nutritional, culinary and medicinal usefulness. The objective of this study was to assess the genetic diversity using SSR and ISSR markers among ten (10) cultivars of spring onions. This study was carried out using one (1) SSR marker and three (3) ISSR markers. In this study, the genetic diversity among the cultivars were revealed. The four markers produced a total of 26 polymorphic alleles with PIC values of 0.7481, 0.6402, 0.675 and 0.7569 for ISSR 879, ISSR 866, ISSR 881 and SSR 62. The UPGMA dendrogram revealed that the ten spring onion cultivars could be divided into two main groups. The subgroup SPO06 and SPO04 showed no genetic distance among them revealing that there is a very close relationship and in total agreement with the factorial analysis. This study has revealed the efficiency of SSR and ISSR markers to estimate the extent of genetic variation of spring onion cultivars and will be a contribution for the conservation and management of Allium species.