Genetic Variability of Passion Fruit Multispecific Hybrids and Their Respective Wild Parents Determined by Microsatellite Markers

The Passiflora genus comprises more than 500 species that are used for food, industrial, ornamental, and pharmaceutical purposes. The sour passion fruit (P. edulis Sims) has low genetic variability for disease resistance, and the use of wild species in the cross-breeding basis is a promising alternative for introgression of resistance genes. The objective of this study was to characterize multispecific hybrids and wild materials with potential to be used as parents in passion fruit genetic breeding programs, using microsatellite markers. Genomic DNA from 33 accessions was extracted and analyzed using 23 microsatellite markers, which were used to estimate the genetic dissimilarities among accessions. The genetic dissimilarity matrices were used to perform clustering analysis by dendrogram using the Unweighted Pair-Group Method as grouping criterion and by graphic dispersion based on multidimensional scale, using the principal coordinates method. Genetic distances between accessions ranged from 0.067 to 1.00. The markers indicated genetic variability among the studied accessions and also the efficiency of the recurrent genome recovery within the backcross program. The genetic structure among the accessions shows the clustering tendency between the wild accessions of P. hatschbachii and P. quadrifaria and the accessions obtained by crossing these species. The same occurred for P. incarnata and P. edulis accessions. The knowledge generated by the molecular characterization provides information on the diversity of accessions and contributes to the work of breeders in the selection of parents.