USING SSR TO EVALUATE THE GENETIC DIVERSITY OF POTATO CULTIVARS FROM YUNNAN PROVINCE (SW CHINA)

The genetic diversity of potato cultivars collected from Yunnan Province was evaluated using 24 pairs of SSR markers. SSR analysis of 24 pairs of primers showed varying degrees of polymorphism among the 85 cultivars: 297 of the 304 bands were polymorphic. The primers yielded between 5 (STM2028) and 19 (StI029) bands (mean 12). The ratio of polymorphic bands ranged from 83.33% to 100% (mean 97.75%). Polymorphism information content (PIC) varied from 69.31% to 93.67% (mean 86.47%). Genetic similarity ranged from 0.5987 to 0.7632, indicating relatively low genetic diversity in the potato cultivars from Yunnan Province. Cluster analysis by UPGMA and PCA clearly delineated the genetic relationships of all cultivars; 83 of the 85 cultivars could be discriminated by only two pairs of primers, STM0030 and STM1104. The high polymorphism and good resolution of the primers used in this study make them good tools for discriminating potato cultivars.