Evaluation of Genetic Diversity in Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) Germplasms using Agro-Economic Traits and Microsatellite Markers

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is one of the most important vegetable plants worldwide. Because of being a cross-pollinated plant, cucumber has very high level of genetic variation. In this study, thirty eight cucumber accessions were evaluated for their genetic diversity using agro-economic traits and microsatellite markers. Ten phenotypes: yield, fruit weight, fruit color white, flesh pith width, harvesting period, number of fruits per plant, fruit color green, fruit color, fruit length, and flesh pith length, were screened in field for nine seasons. The correlation analysis of phenotypic data revealed that yield significantly correlated with fruit weight, harvesting period, number of fruits per plant, fruit length, and flesh pith length. Additionally, 20 SSR markers identified 36 polymorphic alleles. The polymorphic information content (PIC) average at 0.33 and ranged from 0 to 0.62. From dendrogram and principal component analysis, the results showed three main clusters corresponded to cucumber country of origin. Interestingly, these clusters can also be grouped by several phenotypic traits including fruit weight, fruit color, fruit length, and flesh pith length. The data obtained from this study can be used to select the best parental lines for cucumber breeding program and for genetic improvement in cucumber.