Assessment of Genetic Diversity among Elite Breeding Lines of Arabica Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) in Ethiopia using Simple Sequence Repeats Markers

Despite being the center of origin and genetic diversity, there has beenlimited application of molecular markers in arabica coffee breeding inEthiopia. In this study, the extent of genetic diversity and relationships of48 elite breeding lines of arabica coffee from different geographical originswere evaluated using 14 SSR markers. The SSR markers amplified 105 alleles ofwhich 104 are polymorphic with an average of 7.4 polymorphic alleles per locus.The average percent of polymorphism and Polymorphic Information Content (PIC)of the SSR markers were 98.81 and 0.79, respectively. The average geneticsimilarity coefficient among all possible pairs was 0.37 and ranged from 0.39to 0.46 within the same geographical origin. The Unweighted Pair Group MethodUsing Arithmetic averages (UPGMA) cluster analysis placed the studied breedinglines into seven clusters with Jaccard’s similarity coefficient of <0.44.The results of this study demonstrated the powerfulness of the SSR markers andthe presence of a high level of genetic diversity and wide geneticdissimilarity within and among elite breeding lines from the same and differentgeographical origins. The observed diversity could be utilized in the breedingprogram to improve productivity and maintain the typical quality profile oforigin-based landrace coffees. The SSR markers could be used in future geneticanalysis of arabica coffee germplasm to increase the efficiency of the breedingprogram in Ethiopia. The studied breeding lines could also be conserved andmanaged as an important source of genetic variability to be used in the futurecoffee improvement program.