Assessment of genetic diversity in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) based
on SSR Markers

The use of densely bred cultivars for production has restricted genetic variety; on the other hand, genetic variation provided by germplasm accessions is regarded as the raw resources of plant genetics. Therefore, genetic diversity was evaluated in twenty-seven genotypes of tomatoes using SSR markers to study the population structure which provides information at the molecular level. Out of 44 primers, six primers showed polymorphism sizes varying between 160 and 400 bp. Dendrogram was constructed to investigate the genetic relationships among genotypes and cluster analysis was done and genotypes were grouped into two major clusters, which indicates a significant influence of environment on genetic diversity. Analysis of molecular variance revealed 96 percent of total variation within the population and 4 percent among the populations indicating the diversity of genotypes. Nine genotypes were found to be pure which was due to the common source used in developing the lines revealed through STRUCTURE analysis. The present research has shown that SSR markers are efficacious for acquiring unique fingerprint image of tomato relatives and trying to assess genetic diversity among them, and that they could be used for a wide range of practical specific purpose such as various data sources and which was before for distinctiveness of tomato genotypes. The presence of high genetic differentiation allows the selection of promising tomato genotypes to be used in hybridization, mapping, gene pyramiding, molecular breeding, and future exploration.