Genetic diversity and population structure of Gossypium arboreum L. collected in China

Background Gossypium arboreum is a diploid species cultivated in the Old World. It possesses favorable characters that are valuable for developing superior cotton cultivars. Method A set of 197 Gossypium arboreum accessions were genotyped using 80 genome-wide SSR markers to establish patterns of the genetic diversity and population structure. These accessions were collected from three major G. arboreum growing areas in China. A total of 255 alleles across 80 markers were identified in the genetic diversity analysis. Results Three subgroups were found using the population structure analysis, corresponding to the Yangtze River Valley, North China, and Southwest China zones of G.arboreum growing areas in China. Average genetic distance and Polymorphic information content value of G. arboreum population were 0.34 and 0.47, respectively, indicating high genetic diversity in the G. arboreum germplasm pool. The Phylogenetic analysis results concurred with the subgroups identified by Structure analysis with a few exceptions. Variations among and within three groups were observed to be 13.61% and 86.39%, respectively. Conclusion The information regarding genetic diversity and population structure from this study is useful for genetic and genomic analysis and systematic utilization of economically important traits in G. arboreum.