Comparison of Tetraploid Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) Populations Collected from Turkey and Former Soviet Countries

Tetraploid Medicago sativa L. subspecies; M. sativa subsp. sativa, M. sativa subsp. falcata and M. sativa subsp. varia form the primary gene pool of the alfalfa. The center of diversity for this subspecies is seen as the Caucasus, Northwest Iran and Northeast Turkey, and its natural range is the former Soviet Union and the southern border of North Africa as the northern border. Genetic diversity among the primary gene pool and comparisons between regions of diversity provide a good reference for breeders when utilizing genetic resources. The United States Department of Agriculture Genetic Resources Information Network (USDA-GRIN) System provides reference data from its entire natural range, including Turkey and the Former Soviet region. In this study, seven populations collected from Turkey and thirteen alfalfa populations collected from Former Soviet Countries held in the USDA GRIN System were evaluated using 20 SSR markers. Within the scope of the study, the information between the locations of the subspecies was compared to reveal the hierarchical population structure. The results obtained from the STRUCTURE and PCA analyzes show that the populations are clustered in two main groups for both countries, but there is a high similarity in hybrid genome contents in the subspecies belonging to the Former Soviet countries. In addition, it was determined by AMOVA analysis that the variance within the populations was higher than that between the populations according to the subspecies analyzed from both countries. It is thought that the results will be effective in terms of using alfalfa genetic resources of these countries in breeding programs.