title: Genetic structure and diversity analysis of  the primary gene pool of chickpea using SSR markers.
abstract: Members of the primary gene pool of the chickpea,  including 38 accessions of Cicer arietinum, six of C. reticulatum and  four of C. echinospermum grown in India were investigated using 100 SSR  markers to analyze their genetic structure, diversity and relationships. We  found considerable diversity, with a mean of 4.8 alleles per locus (ranging  from 2 to 11); polymorphic information content ranged from 0.040 to 0.803, with  a mean of 0.536. Most of the diversity was confined to the wild species, which  had higher values of polymorphic information content, gene diversity and heterozygosity  than the cultivated species, suggesting a narrow genetic base for cultivated  chickpea. An unrooted neighbor-joining tree, principal coordinate analysis and  population structure analysis revealed differentiation between the cultivated  accessions and the wild species; three cultivated accessions were in an intermediate  position, demonstrating introgression within the cultivated group. Better  understanding of the structure, diversity and relationships within and among  the members of this primary gene pool will contribute to more efficient  identification, conservation and utilization of chickpea germplasm for allele  mining, association genetics, mapping and cloning gene(s) and applied breeding  to widen the genetic base of this cultivated species, for the development of  elite lines with superior yield and improved adaptation to diverse  environments.
authors.affiliation: National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology, Pusa Campus, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Choudhary
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Khanna
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bharadwaj
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Lakhera
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Srinivasan
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D029863:Cicer / Q000235:genetics*; D017343:Genes, Plant; D005819:Genetic Markers; D014644:Genetic Variation
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers