Characterization of polinated turkish maize populations using morphological traits and ssrs molecular marker

Landraces of maize represent a valuable genetic resources for breeding and genetics studies. In this study, a total 13 morphological trait and 13 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were used to study the morphological and genetic diversity among 20 open pollinated Turkish maize populations. The analysis of variance of the morphological data revealed significant differences among Turkish populations for all measured traits suggesting that there was a high degree of phenotypic diversity. The ear height, ear grain weight, plant height, and plant grain yield and the number of kernel per ear showed wide variation, while, grain rate per ear, days to tasselling and ear diameter showed narrow range of phenotypic variation.All SSR loci were polymorphic. Fifty- three alleles were detected for 13 SSR loci. The mean number of alleles per SSR locus was 4.08, ranging from 2 to 5. The PIC (Polymorphism Information Content) values for SSR locus ranged 0.525 to 0.958, with an overall mean of 0.735. Average Gene diversity (He) values for population ranged from 0.12 (Bursa) to 0.25 (Uşak). Genetic similarity ranged 0.79 to 0.95. Based on SSR markers, a dendrogram was constructed using the UPGMA (The unweighted pair group method based on arithmetic averages) method. The molecular data mainly grouped the open pollinated Turkish maize population into two main clusters.In conclusion, it was observed that open polinated Turkish maize populations are rich source of genetic variability, providing the necessary raw materials for maize breeding programs.Key words: genetic diversity, Maize, SSR, Turkish maize landraces