EST-SSR marker based DNA fingerprinting for cultivar identification and genetic diversity analysis of Elymus sibiricus germplasm in China

In this study, EST-SSR markers were used to analyze the genetic diversity of 52 Elymus sibiricus accessions, and to construct DNA fingerprinting profiles of seven E. sibiricus cultivated accessions and cultivars in China. A total of 204 bands were generated from 20 EST-SSR markers with an average of 10.2 bands per marker. Of the total, 176 (86.27%) bands were polymorphic, indicating that the tested materials possessed a high level of polymorphism. The primers Elw404 and Elw195 could distinguish the seven cultivated accessions and cultivarsfrom other wild materials. Analysis of molecular variance showed that genetic variation was greater within geographical regions (73.94%) than between them (26.06%). Structure analysis suggested that the 52 accessions were clustered into five groups; a similar result was obtained using principal coordinate analysis. Compared with cultivars and cultivated accessions,wild accessionsnumber of polymorphic bands=174, percentage of polymorphic bands (PPB)=85.29%, Shannon’s information index (I)=0.296 6, Nei’s gene diversity (H)=0.179 8, observed number of alleles (Na)=1.852 9 possessed higher genetic diversity, suggesting that wild accessions could be used as important genetic resources for future breeding programs. Furthermore, ex situ and in situ conservation strategies were suggested for E. sibiricus germplasm. The results of the present study showed that EST-SSR markers provided an efficient means of assessing genetic diversity and identifying cultivars in E. sibiricus.