Determination of genetic relationships between safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) cultivars and lines via peroxidase gene polymorphisms

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is an important oil seed crop species. In the present study, total of 39 safflower cultivars and breeding lines were used as plant material. Thirty three of the plant material was registered safflower cultivars and 6 was breeding lines. Peroxidase gen polymorphisms were used to asses genetic diversity of safflower genotypes. A total of 15 peroxidase markers were used and these markers produced 71 bants and 50 of them was found to be polymorphic among the safflwer genotypes. Markers produced 1-9 bants per assay and average number of bands produced per marker was 4.7, of which 3.3 was polimorphic among the safflower genotypes. Similarity coefficients was calculated and used to produce dendrograms. Similarity coefficients were high among the safflower genotypes and average coefficient value was 0.80. Cluster analysis placed all safflower genotypes under 2 main clusters, and genotypes were not clustered based on their country of origin. Principal coordinate analysis (PCA) placed Shufu, Ziyang, Enana and Dinçer differently than the other genotypes. Safflower genotypes could be distinguished from each other based on cluster analysis, however; genetic similarity was found to be high among the studied genotypes. Results Show that safflower cultivars are higly similar and it is necessary to increase genetic diversity of safflower germplasm used in breeding studies.