Amal Brahim
Gaining insight into crop diversity, both at genetic and phenotypic level is of paramount importance for breeding onions with an enhanced yield, quality. Given the economic value of onion, the erosion of genetic diversity of autochthonous ecotypes and the climate-related problems Morocco is facing, a better understanding of the genetic diversity in combination with the expressed phenotype under various growing conditions can provide useful information for future breeding programs. Based on a total of 192 different onion (Allium cepa L.) plants, representing 16 ecotypes, collected from 13 different regions throughout Morocco, the onion population was characterized using ISSR markers. For the phenotypic characterization, these 16 onion ecotypes were cultivated in three different environments. Based on the ISSR marker profile there was a clear grouping of the genotypes into the 16 different ecotypes. The ISSR markers revealed 8 to 18 polymorphic bands for the markers UBC 841 and UBC 840, respectively. The PIC value varied between 0.161 and 0.368. A Linear Discriminant Analysis revealed that based on a linear combination of the markers, the ecotype can be predicted with an accuracy of 93 %. The phenotypic characterization showed that for the polar diameter and the coloration compound a* seemed to be not effected by environment parameters. A clear grouping of the plants per growing environment rather than per ecotype was seen, underscoring the impact of environment on onion phenotype. Finally, the Spearman correlation analysis revealed a significant association between the presence/absence of certain bands and the some phenotypic traits. Graphical Abstract (OR) Speaker lab Photograph/Speaker Department Photography/Speaker University Affiliation Photo.
