Portuguese wild hop diversity assessment by fast SNP genotyping using high-resolution melting

A set of seven SNP markers was used to evaluate the genetic diversity of wild Portuguese hops in comparison with commercial cultivars. A collection of 110 wild genotypes and 33 cultivars was characterized by a high-resolution melting analysis of short amplicons targeting SNP loci. Most of the 143 genotypes (75%) could be differentiated. Phylogenetic analysis showed three main clusters, one included almost exclusively (98%) wild accessions, being the others constituted of both wild and commercial genotypes. The study of population genetic structure placed the accessions into three genetic units, being one exclusively of Portuguese genotypes. The study showed the great biodiversity of the Portuguese hop germplasm and the notable differences (F-ST = 0.163, p<0.00001) from commercial hops. Results support the usefulness of the use of these seven markers for hop discrimination, with the fast and high-throughput HRMA technique for allele calling and contribute to the affirmation of the high richness breeding potential of Portuguese wild hops.