Rapid Genetic Assessment of Carrot Varieties Based on AFLP Analysis

It is necessary to regard the biodiversity of carrot as a genetic source of useful and indispensable components for the human diet. Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers were used to discriminate eight carrot genotypes with different root colors. With the combination of enzymes Tru9I, PstI, and three sets of primer pairs corresponding to adapters joint to the restricted sites, 92 loci were produced, including 60 polymorphic ones. Each of the three primer sets showed high efficiency, according to estimations of PIC (0.34, 0.34, and 0.41), D (0.36, 0.67, and 0.67), Rp (5.5, 11.3, and 15), and HE (0.32, 0.49, and 0.49). The genetic distances were calculated using values of Nei’s coefficient. The most genetically similar were Chantenay Coeur Rouge and Colmar a Coeur Rouge at a distance of 0.12, whereas the most distant were Saint Valery and Purple Dragon at the highest distance of 0.34. Confirming its genetic identity, Purple Dragon and Gelber Goliath with purple and yellow roots were the most detached varieties from others at distances of 0.23–0.34 and 0.23–0.28, respectively. Male sterile Berlicum breeding accessions were well distinct from other orange-colored varieties at the highest distance of 0.30 from Deep Purple F1. Slight modifications including the facilitation of gel staining enables the wide use of the AFLP method for genetic diversity assessment in carrot breeding accessions.