Intra-population genetic diversity of cultivated carrot (Daucus carota L.) assessed by analysis of microsatellite markers.

Intra-population variation of 18 cultivated carrot (Daucus carota L. ssp. sativus) populations of diverse origins was evaluated using codominant microsatellite (SSR) markers. Using 27 genomic and EST-derived SSR markers, 253 alleles were identified with a mean 9.4 alleles per marker. Most of the alleles (60.5%) were rare i.e., with the frequency ≤ 0.05 while only 3.95% of alleles occurred with frequency > 0.6. EST-derived SSR markers were less polymorphic than genomic SSR markers. Differences in allele occurrence allowed 16 out of 18 populations to be assigned to either the Western or Asian carrot gene pools with high probability. Populations could be also discriminated due to the presence of private alleles (25.3% of all alleles). Most populations had excess of alleles in the homozygous state indicating their inbreeding, although heterozygous loci were common in F1 hybrids. Genetic diversity was due to allelic variation among plants within populations (62% of total variation) and between populations (38%). Accessions originating from continental Asia and Europe had more allelic variants and higher diversity than those from Japan and USA. Also, allelic richness and variability in landraces was higher than in F1 hybrids and open-pollinated cultivars.