Investigation of the relationship between SSR markers and agronomic traits in saffron (Crocus sativus L.)

Purpose: This experiment aimed find the relationship between morphological, physiological traits, metabolites, with SSR markers. Research method: To investigate the relationship between quantitative traits and SSR (Simple sequence repeat) markers, an experiment was conducted under both field and laboratory conditions at Zanjan University. In this experiment, 20 SSR primers were used and agronomic and physiological traits with secondary metabolites were measured during the growing season. Findings: Amplified primers generated a total of 38 bands and the average number of bands in all locus was 2.38 bands. The highest number of alleles (5 alleles) and the polymorphic information content (0.9) were for the A2 primer. The stepwise regression analysis results showed that the studied primers (10 primers) had a significant relationship with most traits and the highest R2 in the first year was harvest index (79%), dry weight of stigma (69%), fresh weight of flower (62%), and yield (62%). In the second year, harvest index (67%), number of leaves (65%), number of flowers (61%), and yield (64%) had the highest coefficient of determination. The C25 and C50 primers were associated with 5 and 4 quantitative traits in 2014 and 4 and 3 quantitative traits in 2015, respectively. The C25 and C50 primers identified 2 and 3 alleles in the study population respectively, and considering the number of identified loci, it can be considered as the important primers concerning quantitative traits. The A8, A10, A48 and A2 primers were associated with at least more than 4 traits during the two years of experiment. According to the observed relationship, these marker loci can be used to select ecotypes with marker-assisted in saffron populations. Limitations: No limitations to report. Originality/Value: C50, C25, A8, A2, and C36 primers are candidate markers in marker-assisted selection saffron breeding programs.