Diversity and Population Structure Analysis of Faba Bean (Vicia faba L.) Accessions Using SSR Markers

The awareness and conception of the genetic diversity in faba bean (Vicia faba) accessions are important for the enforcement of degree addressed to their usages and conservations. The aim of this work was to estimate the genetic diversity and population structure in Iraqi faba bean using SSR markers for utilization in crossing and variety development. To assess genetic variation and population structure among faba bean accessions, 25 microsatellite loci were exerted. The analysis of diversity indices in the set of faba bean accessions examined here showed that the microsatellites were informative for genotype characterization. In total, 72 polymorphic alleles were exposed to an average of 2.88 per locus and three unique alleles were detected. The average of PIC, gene diversity, marker index, resolving power and Shannon diversity was 0.513, 0.569, 1.671, 2.173 and 0.830, respectively. The patterns detected in the dendrogram and PCA divided 19 accessions into five distinct clusters with different levels of sub-grouping within the cluster. High-level genetic differentiation within a population or group (83%) was significantly greater than that among groups or populations (17%), as planned by Analysis Of Molecular Variance (AMOVA). The model of clustering, based on the analysis of STRUCTURE software, identified four groups genetically dispersed. These findings have additional importance in faba bean breeding as well as maintenance programs.