Genetic diversity of Elymus nutans germplasm resources from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China detected by SSR markers

SSR markers were used to analyze the genetic diversity of 30 accessions of wild Elymus nutans collected from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The results showed that: 1) A total of 116 fragments and 92 polymorphic loci were generated from 16 pairs of primers. The polymorphic loci rate (PPB) was 79.75%, with polymorphism information contents (PIC) ranging from 0.063 to 0.325 (mean 0.188). The genetic similarity (GS) coefficient ranged from 0.692 to 0.976 (mean 0.828). 2) A cluster analysis showed that at the genetic similarity coefficient of 0.804, the 30 samples clustered in four major groups. Individually clustered groups of 09-214 showed distant genetic relationships with other accessions. The result of a principal component analysis was generally consistent with those of a UPGMA. The analysis of population genetic structure indicated that most of the samples may originate from the same genetic background, and results of grouping analysis were consistent with those of the cluster analysis. Our results showed a great difference between the tested germplasm samples, with several of the accessions showing relatively independent characteristics and higher genetic diversity, which could provide reference for the protection and utilization of E. nutans, the selection of new varieties and the discovery of “good genes”.