Characterization of pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) with genomic-SSR and EST-SSR markers

This study focused on the characterization of different cultivars and genotypes of pistachio (Pistacia vera L.). The SSR primers were designed by transcriptome sequenced from pistachio cultivars for characterization study. Totally 18 EST-SSRs were developed from 100 EST-SSR primer pairs in this study. Developed genic SSR in this study and previously developed 18 genomic SSR markers were used in 72 pistachio cultivars and genotypes for characterization. According to the results, a total of 192 alleles were predicted and the average allele number was 5.3. The Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) was between 0.07 and 0.79, and the average was 0.52. The observed heterozygosity (Ho) and the expected heterozygosity (He) were showed as 0.51 and 0.57. According to the phylogenetic analysis, pistachio cultivars and genotypes are grouped in two main classes of their origin, namely Iran and Mediterranean. 'Siirt' group is placed between Iran and the Mediterranean groups. The EST-SSR primers developed in this study along with the results of characterization will be used in further studies of pistachio in order for cultivar identification, germplasm characterization, marker-assisted selection, and molecular breeding studies.