Morphological variation and marker-fruit trait associations in a collection of grape (Vitis vinifera L.)

Abstract Grape ( Vitis vinifera L.) is one of the most important fruit crops in the world. In the present study, morphological variation and marker-fruit trait association were investigated in a collection of Iranian grapes. The studied genotypes were phenotypically diverse, which vine, leaf, bunch, and berry traits showed high variation. Significant positive and negative correlations were found among some characteristics. Berry weight was significantly positively correlated with the consecutive tendrils number, bunch peduncle length, berry length, seed presence and seed number. Forty-eight SNP and nine SSR markers, which generated 118 and 129 alleles, respectively, were able to distinguish genetic variation among genotypes. The clustering dendrograms according to both SSR and SNP data showed two main clusters with high variability between genotypes. Multiple regression analysis showed statistically significant associations between important fruit traits and some SNP and SSR markers which may provide clues for identification of the genotypes with higher values. The findings of phenotypic and genotypic variations here suggest that the studied germplasm representing the kind of variation, would be a valuable genetic resource for future breeding.