A first insight into peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] SNP variability

Three factors may have reduced the diversity at both individual gene and whole genome levels in cultivated peach: its self-compatible mating system, the narrow genetic basis of most commercial cultivars, and the recent strong selection towards agronomically interesting traits. Previous diversity analyses with markers such as simple sequence repeats (SSRs) have revealed low levels of genetic variability. Here, we sequenced 23 genome-wide distributed DNA fragments in 47 occidental peach varieties, also observing reduced variability levels. On average, there was one single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) every 598 bp and one indel every 4,189 bp. As expected, variability was higher in non-coding than in coding regions (one SNP every 390 non-coding bp versus one in 1,850 bp in coding DNA). In general, SNPs were observed at relatively high frequency, mean minor allele frequency = 0.225, meaning that a large proportion of the SNPs discovered by sequencing similar germplasm will be useful for other purposes, such as association mapping. The average heterozygosity of the varieties was 0.28, with a low correlation between SSR and SNP heterozygosity. The whole sequence of two candidate genes, a pectate lyase 1 candidate for fruit firmness (CGPAA2668) and a sucrose synthase 1 candidate for sugar content (CGPPB6189), in the 47 varieties revealed that they both may have suffered a process of balancing selection.