Genetic Diversity Analysis of Fruška Gora Quince Cultivars Based on SSR Markers

Quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) is a well-known pome fruit species, primarily used for the production of jams and marmalades as well as for pear rootstocks. It has long been cultivated in Serbia at various locations and it possesses vast genetic variability. The aim of this study was to evaluate genetic diversity of 36 genotypes collected from the Fruška Gora locality. Seven SSR markers were used for genetic diversity analyses, revealing a total of 85.7 % polymorphic loci. Six of them were polymorphic, while marker Hi02d04 was homozygous. A total of 20 alleles were recorded, with an average number of alleles per marker of Na = 1.58. The number of effective alleles was Ne = 1.4, observed heterozygosity was Ho = 0.34, while expected heterozygosity was He = 0.22. Principle coordinates analyses (PCoA) explained 74.60% of total diversity with its 3 coordinates and formed 4 different groups of genotypes. The dendrogram constructed with the UPGMA method placed genotypes in 3 different clusters, with variation observed within clusters. The use of SSR markers revealed significant differences between the tested genotypes, providing a closer insight into the state of the genetic resources of this pome species in our country.