Genetic diversity and identification of Korean elite soybean cultivars including certified cultivars based on SSR markers.

A total of 26 Korean elite soybean cultivars including 21 certified cultivars was assessed to evaluate genetic diversity and to analyze relationship among them based on 15 SSR markers. Fifteen SSR markers generated a total of 201 alleles. Average number of alleles per SSR marker was 13.4 with a range from 8 to 19. Genetic diversity of 26 cultivars estimated by PIC value ranged from 0.782 to 0.931 with an average of 0.874. PIC value of Satt197 was the highest with 0.931 and Satt141 was the lowest with 0.782 among 15 SSR markers. Cluster analysis based on genetic distances classified 26 soybean cultivars into 3 clusters. Cluster I, II and III included 2, 7 and 17 cultivars, respectively. Average genetic diversity within clusters was 0.769 with a range from 0.720 to 0.799. Average genetic diversity between clusters was 0.813 with a range from 0.725 to 0.857. Genetic diversity was higher between clusters than within clusters. Genetic relationship among clusters was near between I and II, and I and III and far between II and III cluster. All of 26 Korean elite soybean cultivars could be identified by using any of 5 combinations of 2 SSR markers with higher PIC value, i.e, , Satt197+Satt245, , and Satt185+Satt245.