Assessing molecular diversity and genetic relationships among rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties

The objective of this research was to assess the genetic diversity and relationships among 57 rice varieties from the collection of Rice Research Institute of Iran, Rasht, Iran, including 26 local, 13 improved and 18 forein varieties using 38 SSR markers linked to grain quantitative and qualitative characteristics on the chromosome 6. In total, 281 alleles were identified in the studied genotypes and the number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 11. The average number of observed and effective alleleswere 7.39 and 5.15 alleles, respectively, and Nei’s gene diversity, Shannon's diversity index and polymorphism information content were 0.752, 1.685 and 0.741, respectively, showing high levels of genetic variation among the studied varieties. Evaluating diversity indices to compare the studied SSR markers showed that RM510, RM225, RM31, RM402, RM528, RM204, RM162, RM584 and RM3 having the highest diversity values, respectively,were the most effective and informative markers for studying the genetic diversity in rice. Evaluation of genetic similarity among the local, improved and forein varieties revealed that the most similarities was between local and improved varieties and the lowest similaties was between improved and forein varieties. Cluster analysis using UPGMA methodbased on jaccard’ssimilarity coefficient, classified 57 studied ricevarieties into four separate groups, so that the local, improved and forein varieties were partially segregated. Therefore,based on the results of this study,the use ofRM510,RM225,RM31,RM402,RM528,RM204,RM162,RM584andRM3as efficient and informative markers for studying genetic diversity of rice varieties are suggested. The crosses between the varieties into further groups derived from cluster analysis can also be used to providenewvarieties with diverse quantitative and qualitative characteristics.