title: Identifying the genetic diversity, genetic structure and a core collection of Ziziphus jujuba Mill. var. jujuba accessions using microsatellite markers.
abstract: Ziziphus is a genus of spiny shrubs and small trees in the Rhamnaceae family. This group has a controversial taxonomy, with more than 200 species described, including Chinese jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill. var. jujuba) and Indian jujube (Z. mauritiana), as well as several other important cultivated fruit crops. Using 24 SSR markers distributed across the Chinese jujube genome, 962 jujube accessions from the two largest germplasm repositories were genotyped with the aim of analyzing the genetic diversity and structure and constructing a core collection that retain high genetic diversity. A molecular profile comparison revealed 622 unique genotypes, among which 123 genotypes were genetically identical to at least one other accessions. STRUCTURE analysis and multivariate analyses (Cluster and PCoA) roughly divided the accessions into three major groups, with some admixture among groups. A simulated annealing algorithm and a heuristic algorithm were chosen to construct the core collection. A final core of 150 accessions was selected, comprising 15.6% of the analyzed accessions and retaining more than 99.5% of the total alleles detected. We found no significant differences in allele frequency distributions or in genetic diversity parameters between the chosen core accessions and the 622 genetically unique accessions. This work contributes to the understanding of Chinese jujube diversification and the protection of important germplasm resources.
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Laboratory for Tree Breeding, Key Laboratory of Genetics and Breeding in Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants, Ministry of Education, College of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing (100083), China.
authors.forename: Chaoqun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Laboratory for Tree Breeding, Key Laboratory of Genetics and Breeding in Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants, Ministry of Education, College of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing (100083), China.
authors.forename: Jiao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: National Foundation for Improved Cultivar of Chinese Jujube, Cangzhou Heibei, 061000, China.
authors.forename: Zengfeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Pomology Institute, Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Science, Taigu, Shanxi 030815, China.
authors.forename: Dengke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Laboratory for Tree Breeding, Key Laboratory of Genetics and Breeding in Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants, Ministry of Education, College of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing (100083), China.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Laboratory for Tree Breeding, Key Laboratory of Genetics and Breeding in Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants, Ministry of Education, College of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing (100083), China.
authors.forename: Yingyue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Laboratory for Tree Breeding, Key Laboratory of Genetics and Breeding in Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants, Ministry of Education, College of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing (100083), China.
authors.forename: Xiaoming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Pang
mesh_terms: D014644:Genetic Variation; D018745:Genome, Plant; D005838:Genotype; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D031957:Ziziphus / Q000254:growth & development*