Diversity Assessment of Annonamuricata L. Through Molecular Characterization using SSR Markers

P. Thanachseyan, W.L.G. Samarasinghe, G. Thirukkumaran

Annona muricata L. (Magnoliales: Annonaceae) is a tropical fruit tree with a long history of traditional use. The object of this research was to determine the genetic diversity of the Annona muricata L. species using SSR markers. Thirty-four accessions of A.muricata leave samples and a leaf sample of A.cherimola as a control were collected from different locations in Sri Lanka. Genetic diversity of A.muricata was evaluated using eight microsatellites markers developed in Annona cherimola. Optimum annealing temperature of each primer was selected after the gradient PCR. Total nine genotypes were detected with 1.125 alleles per locus. The low levels of mean observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.0147 and from 0.0140, respectively. The average Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) value for all markers used was 0.0131, the highest PIC value 0.1046 was obtained for the primer LMCH9.The high level of PIC value and polymorphism indicate that the primer LMCH9 is well suited for diversity assessment of Annona muricata germplasm. Accessions 168, 25, 82 & 49 were gave heterozygous alleles band for primer LMCH9. As a result, it was revealed a relatively limited genetic diversity within selected Annona accessions with respect to Annona cherimola markers.