Detection of genetic diversity in Libyan wheat genotypes using wheat microsatellite markers

Twenty-four wheat microsatellites (WMS) were used to estimate the extent of genetic diversity among 15 Libyan wheat genotypes. The WMS used determined 26 loci located on 20 different chromosomes, and were capable of detecting 116 alleles with an average of 4.5 alleles per locus. Only two markers located on 2DS and 4DL, were monomorphic. The results indicated that the B genome (5.9 alleles per locus) was more variable than the A and D genomes (4.1 and 2.7 alleles per locus, respectively). Furthermore, the results obtained suggest that a relatively small number of primers can be used to distinguish all genotypes used and to estimate their genetic diversity. Genetic dissimilarity values between genotypes, calculated by the WMS derived data, were used to produce a dendrogram. The diversity within the analysed germplasm is discussed.