First Records on Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Algerian Peanut (Arachis hypogaea) Using Microsatellite Markers

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L) is one of the wide cultivated plants with a narrow genetic base, hence the interest in prospecting, rescuing, and characterizing germplasm of this species is continuously carried out. In this work, eleven microsatellite markers were used to assess the genetic diversity and population structure of 68 Algerian peanut accessions originated from four geographic regions in the north and south of Algeria. A total of 83 alleles were amplified with a mean number of 7.545 alleles per locus and polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged from 0.625 to 0.874. The observed and expected heterozygosity varied from 0.31 to 1.00 and from 0.61 to 0.84 with a mean of 0.704 and 0.732, respectively. Genetic structure analysis showed a strong population at K = 2, separating accessions according to their subspecies affiliation (hypogeae ssp. and fastigiata ssp.). It was also able to quantify the genetic correlations between genotypes using principal component analysis (PCA) and the method of groups of unweighted pairings with arithmetic means (UPGMA). Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed high genetic variation within individuals (90.7%) and low genetic differentiation between subspecies (10.3%) and among populations (8.9%) from different geographical origin. Genetic diversity analysis in this study provides useful information for the exploration and utilization of these peanut cultivars.