LAUSR

In this study, genetic diversity of agro-morphological traits and population structure of 167 chickpea were assessed using genomic-SSR and EST-SSR molecular markers. Field evaluation of chickpea genotypes showed highly variation for most of measured characteristics such as: number of pods per plant, number of seeds per plant, 100-seed weight and seed yield. Cluster analysis based on morphological traits, grouped chickpea genotypes into four clusters. 37 SSR markers showed highly allelic variation across chickpea genotypes with an average value of 2.95 alleles per locus. Polymorphism information content of SSR locus ranged from 0.27 to 0.80, with an average value of 0.50. SSR-based cluster analysis, grouped 167 chickpea genotypes into two clusters, while cluster I and II divided into five and four sub-clusters. Population structure and discriminant analysis of principal components showed to presence of two clusters within the chickpea, while there was no strong correlation between morphological-based clustering and molecular genetic diversity. Our results showed highly genetic diversity for both agro-morphological and molecular analysis in examined chickpea genotypes. Overall, results of present study can be used for germplasm management and particularly for introducing new genotypes with desirable characteristics for using in breeding programs.