Morpho-genetic profiling and phylogenetic relationship of guava (Psidium guajava l.) as genetic resources in Pakistan

Abstract Guava (Psidium guajava L.) is an open-pollinated crop having 25-40% dissimilarity index which promotes heterozygosity and adds new cultivars. Morpho-genetic characterization of 37 guava accessions was carried out for genetic variability and structure of guava germplasm located in Punjab province, Pakistan. Principal Component analysis (PCA) was subjected to analyze the morphological diversity and for genetic analysis we applied cluster analysis, using the PyElph software. PCA distributed thirty one traits into six components and first two components accounted 39.5% of total variation. A dendrogram constructed on the basis of morphological traits which showed 34% dissimilarity index among thirty seven guava accessions and divided them into 6 groups. For genetic characterization 18 microsatellites were used, the size of reproducible and scorable bands ranged from 150 to 320 bp. The 18 primer pairs amplified 85 alleles with an average number of 4.7 alleles per locus and no more than two displayed bands (nuclear SSR loci). The phylogenetic tree based on molecular analysis showed 50% dissimilarity index among selected guava accessions and separated them into 4 groups.