Hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) is mainly cultivated in the north and northwest of Iran. In this study, the genetic structure and diversity of 52 hazelnut accessions were investigated using 9 simple sequence repeats (SSR) loci. The number of alleles per locus ranged from
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Hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) is mainly cultivated in the north and northwest of Iran. In this study, the genetic structure and diversity of 52 hazelnut accessions were investigated using 9 simple sequence repeats (SSR) loci. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 3, with a total number of 19 alleles. The highest and lowest values of observed alleles were found in the Fandogloo-Ardabil (Na=2.22) and 6th population (Na=1.77), respectively. The highest and lowest effective alleles were observed in Fandogloo-Gilan (Ne=1.94) and Hatammeshasi (Ne=1.56) populations, respectively. The highest value of the Shanon index (I=50%) was found in Hatammeshasi. A high level of genetic diversity, including expected heterozygosity (He), was found in Hatammeshasi population (He=0.50), while the highest value of observed heterozygosity (Ho) was found in Talesh population (Ho =0.25). The polymorphic information content (PIC) varied from 0.87 to 0.98 per locus. The mean values of PIC, Fis, and Fst for all loci were 0.88, 0.53, and 0.15, respectively. Overall, gene flow between populations (Nm=1.57) was observed in the studied populations. The highest correlations (r=0.94, p<0.05) were observed between the Eshkavar and Fandogloo-Gilan, and Hatammeshasi and Fandogloo-Ardabil populations. Regarding the X2 test at p<0.05, the studied populations did not follow the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Cluster analysis based on UPGMA method divided hazelnut genotypes into four groups. The results confirm that SSR is a reliable DNA marker that can be used to accurately study genetic diversity in hazelnut populations.
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