Genetic and phenological diversity of Tunisian natural populations of Dactylis glomerata L

• Published in: Genetic resources and crop evolution 2024-10, Vol.71 (7), p.3471-3484
• Main Authors: Chtourou-Ghorbel, Nidhal, Guenni, Karim, Bedoui, Malek, Chadded, Hala, Sai-Kachout, Salma, Trifi-Farah, Neila
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture; Agronomy; Bayesian analysis; Bioclimatology; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Clustering; Conserved sequence; Dactylis; Dactylis glomerata; Genetic analysis; Genetic diversity; Genetic resources; Grasses; Life Sciences; Molecular structure; Natural populations; Plant Genetics and Genomics; Plant Physiology; Plant Sciences; Plant Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography; Polymorphism; Population genetics; Population structure; Population studies; Populations; Research Article; Variance analysis; Wildlife conservation
• ISSN: 0925-9864; 1573-5109
• DOI: 10.1007/s10722-024-01869-9

This work is part of a program for the conservation and enhancement of Tunisian genetic resources of orchardgrass ( Dactylis glomerata L.). This species is of great interest, especially from an agronomic point of view. However, little information is available regarding agronomic characterization and genetic variation in Tunisian orchardgrass. This study aims to evaluate the genetic diversity of nine natural populations of orchardgrass collected in the north of Tunisia through the analysis of 16 morpho-phenological traits and 14 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers developed from different grass species. Our results showed that the analysis of variance and multivariate analyses of quantitative parameters revealed a significant morphological and phenological variation within and among the populations mainly relating to the precocity and vigor of the plants. Moreover, the population structure was independent from the geographic origin and bioclimatic stage. At the molecular level, the 14 selected SSR markers are highly transferable and exhibited amplification in Dactylis glomerata . An average of 5.27 alleles with a polymorphism information content (PIC) of 0.69 per locus set was detected among the populations studied. The average polymorphic rate for this species was 86.08%, suggesting a high degree of genetic diversity. A high level of genetic diversity (G st = 65.49%) was observed among the populations. Bayesian clustering based on SSR data clearly segregated populations into two groups. The results of this study will be useful to identify suitable populations that could be used in breeding programs for the improvement of Tunisian orchardgrass.