Genetic analysis of grapevine cultivars from the Eastern Mediterranean Region of Turkey, based on SSR markers

Turkey is one of the centres for grapevine diversity with many local grapevine cultivars with potentially desirable characteristics are still widely cultivated throughout several regions in the country. One of such regions is the Eastern Mediterranean region of the country. To characterize the grapevine germplasm of this region, we performed a genetic analysis of 59 grapevine cultivars using 14 simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci. The genetic relationships of the cultivars which did not appear to be linked to their ecogeographical distributions within the region were determined. Among the cultivars analyzed in this study, several synonymous and homonymous cultivars were identified, suggesting that some of the grapevine cultivars with different names might be genetically identical while some cultivars with the same names might be genetically different. This study represents a first step toward the genetic characterization of the grapevine genotypes of this region and will help promote more effective germplasm management and breeding programs.