Genetic diversity in some faba bean (Vicia faba L.) genotypes assessed by simple sequence repeats

The success of the breeding programmes depends on the dimension of genetic variability. Simple sequence repeats (SSR) have been extensively used in the studies including genetic characterization of many plant species. The objective of this study was to investigate the genetic variation in 22 faba bean genotypes, 18 of which were originated from International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and 4 of which were cultivated genotypes in Turkey, using SSR markers. Of 41 SSR markers used, 25 produced bands. As a result of SSR amplification, a total of 39 bands, 25 of which were polymorphic and 14 of which were monomorphic, were obtained. The mean gene diversity and polymorphism information content values were 0.27 and 0.24, respectively. The faba bean genotypes cultivated in Turkey had greater genetic diversity than those that originated from ICARDA. The faba bean genotypes FLIP10- and FLIP03- were successfully separated, using the un-weighted pair group method with arithmetic average dendrogram constructed via Jaccard similarity coefficients. These results were further supported by factor analysis substantially. The results indicated that there is sufficient genetic diversity among the tested faba bean genotypes (especially cultivated in Turkey) and could be used in faba bean breeding programmes