MARKER-ASSISTED SCREENING FOR POTENTIAL DUPLICATES AMONG COMMON BEAN GENE BANK COLLECTION

Abstract

The characterization and preservation of local plant genetic resources are crucial for maintaining agrobiodiversity and enhancing crop improvement initiatives. This study aimed to evaluate the genetic diversity and identify potential duplicates among 21 local common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) accessions stored in the Gene Bank of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences at the University of Sarajevo. A total of 26 SSR (single sequence repeat) markers were utilized to genotype the accessions, revealing an average of 4.0 alleles per locus. The observed heterozygosity (HO) averaged 0.043, while the expected heterozygosity (HE) was 0.536. The polymorphic information content (PIC) values ranged from 0.171 to 0.859, with 11 loci classified as highly informative (PIC > 0.5). Cluster analysis based on Jaccard’s distance and the UPGMA method indicated that no two accessions shared identical allele profiles, confirming the absence of genetic duplicates within the analyzed group. These findings highlight the significance of conserving and further characterizing local common bean germplasm as a vital resource for breeding programs focused on improving yield, stress resilience, and adaptation. Additionally, several SSR loci, especially PVat007, BM143, and GATS91, were identified as highly informative and suitable for future diversity and selection studies.