Abstract

This study used sequence specifc amplifcation polymorphism (SSAP) markers to investigate the genetic diversity and population genetic structure of nine Tunisian Vicia faba populations belonging to the minor and major faba bean’s sub-species. Threeprimers were used (PDR1, Tps19 and Tvf4) in this study. These primers gave good SSAP marker profiles, high number of bands obtained per gel and a high percentage of polymorphic bands as confirmed in a previous study. Indeed, these primers provided a total of 173 amplified bands, with 123 of them being polymorphic. Shannon indexes ranges from 0.166 to 0.248 with an average of 0.207. The genetic diversity within population of 0.743 was clearly higher than that of among population genetic diversity (Dst = 0.138), indicating an out-crossing predominance in the studied populations. The Dst value showed that 15.6% of the total genetic variation resided among populations, a little lower than that of out-crossing species. The dendrogram grouping the populations by unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic averages(UPGMA) method revealed three main clusters. The local major faba bean ‘Batata’was the most divergent population and was separated from other population.

Key words: Vicia faba, SSAP marker, Genetic diversity, Tunisia.