Testing of SSR markers for genotyping of sour and sweet cherry varieties from the genetic collection of the Federal Horticulture Center for Breeding, Agrotechnology and Nursery

Molecular methods are increasingly being used to determine the varietal affiliation of fruit crops. Genetic markers characterizing polymorphisms at the level of the entire genome are important for studying the genetic structure and characteristics of the breeding material. SSR markers remain popular due to their availability and possibility of comparison with data from different collections. In this work, we set out to evaluate the effectiveness of SSR markers to form their optimal set for genotyping sour and sweet cherry varieties. The selected SSR markers were tested using 14 sour cherry varieties (Prunus cerasus L.) (Assol, Bryunetka, Bulatnikovskaya, Belye Zhuravli, Chereshnevaya, Molodezhnaya, Novella, Pamyat Yenikeeva, Pamyat Evstratovu, Rastorguevskaya, Rusinka, Saniya, Silva, Vladimirskaya) and 13 sweet cherry varieties (P. avium (L.) L.) (Anons, Chermashnaya, Fatezh, Iput, Krasa Kubani, Krupnoplodnaya, Kutuzovka, Moskvoretskaya, Podarok Ryazani, Revna, Sinyavskaya, Uslada, Vasilisa) from the genetic collection of the Federal Horticulture Center for Breeding, Agrotechnology and Nursery. The conducted analysis of SSR markers based on statistical analysis allowed us to identify the most informative markers for sour cherry varieties. The PceGA34 marker demonstrated the highest informational value among all the parameters studied. In addition, the BPPCT005, BPPCT037, BPPCT039, CPPCT006, CPPCT022, EMPA001, EMPA003, EMPaS02, EMPaS06, EMPaS12, EMPaS14, and UDP98-412 markers showed a sufficient degree of informativeness for effective differentiation of cherry varieties. At the same time, the informativeness of EMPA002, EMPA005, EMPA017, and EMPaS01 markers was established to be insufficient. Regarding sweet cherry varieties, the BPPCT005 and EMPaS12 markers showed the greatest informational value for varietal identification. The BPPCT037, BPPCT039, CPPCT006, CPPCT022, EMPA001, EMPA005, EMPaS01, EMPaS02, EMPaS06, PceGA34, and UDP98-412 were also recognized as sufficiently informative for this purpose. At the same time, the EMPA002, EMPA003, EMPA017, and EMPaS14 markers were excluded from consideration due to their insufficient informational value.