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Comparison of morphological traits and molecular markers to analyse diversity and structure of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) cultivars

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Abstract

Diversity and structure of populations may differ substantially between morphological traits and molecular markers. Explanations of such discrepancies are crucial for further progress in breeding as well as for the maintenance of genetic resources. Our objective was to compare indices of among-cultivars differentiation for morphological traits (QST) and molecular markers (FST) in alfalfa (Medicago sativa), a legume forage species. Ten cultivars representing the Northern and Southern types commonly grown in Europe were investigated. For each cultivar, 40 genotypes were analysed with 16 SSR markers and four morphological traits measured in two locations and several cuts. QST values were in general high (0.02–0.39) compared to the differentiation observed with molecular markers (FST = 0.01), especially for growth habit, indicating that morphological traits were more efficient to structure the diversity than molecular markers. For morphological traits, a clear separation of Northern and Southern cultivars was observed, whereas for molecular markers, no clear structure was detected. Nevertheless, the grazing type cultivar Luzelle was separated from the rest of the cultivars for both morphological traits and molecular markers. Although pairwise differences between cultivars were significant for both morphological traits and molecular markers, the main part of the variation was found within cultivars. This large within-cultivar variation may be explained, besides the outcrossing reproductive mode and autotetraploid genetics, by the recent history of M. sativa domestication in Europe and the frequent seed exchanges. Selection for morphological traits (QST > FST) was achieved without modification of within-cultivar neutral diversity.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the ACVF (Association des Créateurs de Variétés Français) section Alfalfa for contributing to genotyping and phenotyping. JF Bourcier, F Durand, C Ecalle, A Gilly and J Jousse who contributed to genotyping or phenotyping are greatly acknowledged. This work was supported by Contrat de Branche from the French Ministry of Agriculture (2005–2008). DH received a grant from the Plant Breeding department of INRA.

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  1. Doris Herrmann

    Present address: School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Zollikofen, Switzerland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. P3F, INRA, 86600, Lusignan, France

    Doris Herrmann, Philippe Barre, Christian Huyghe & Bernadette Julier

  2. Jouffray-Drillaud, 86600, Lusignan, France

    Sandrine Flajoulot

  3. AGAP, INRA, 34060, Montpellier, France

    Joëlle Ronfort

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  1. Doris Herrmann
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  2. Sandrine Flajoulot
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Contributions

BJ, JR, CH conceived and designed the experiments; SF, BJ, PB performed the experiments; DH, BJ, SF analysed the data; DH, BJ, PB, JR, CH wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Bernadette Julier.

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Herrmann, D., Flajoulot, S., Barre, P. et al. Comparison of morphological traits and molecular markers to analyse diversity and structure of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) cultivars. Genet Resour Crop Evol 65, 527–540 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-017-0551-z

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