The genetic diversity of strawberry (Fragaria ananassa Duch.) hybrids based on ISSR markers

Abstract

The strawberry is an important agricultural crop in Brazil. However, most of the commercial genotypes currently in cultivation in Brazil were developed in other countries with environmental adaptations often inadequate for the regional conditions. In this work, inter-simple sequence repeat markers were used to determine the genetic variability and the loci segregation profiles of 84 strawberry hybrids obtained from a genetic breeding program at the 'Empresa de Pesquisa Agropecuária de Minas Gerais.' The hybrids were produced from crosses involving the following progenitors: 'Toyonoka' x 'Sweet Charlie', 'Camino Real' x 'Sweet Charlie', 'Oso Grande' x 'Sweet Charlie', 'Oso Grande' x 'Toyonoka', 'Dover' x 'Oso Grande', and 'Camino Real' x 'Toyonoka'. Fourteen genotypes were randomly sampled for each hybrid combination and evaluated. The results showed that the genetic profiles of the hybrids from each test cross were very diverse, most likely due to the high heterozygosity of the genome of each progenitor involved, which might indicate the presence of adequate genetic diversity among the hybrids to allow for the selection of new cultivars with agronomic traits that are more suitable to environmental conditions in Brazil.