Exploring potato diversity: A comprehensive genetic and phenotypic analysis of quantitative and qualitative traits

For sustainable breeding in potato, a better understanding of genetic diversity within germplasm banks for sustainable breeding is needed. This study comprehensively characterised the molecular and phenotypic traits of 62 potato accessions, including advanced clones and indigenous potato varieties from Advanced Chemical Industries Limited (ACI Ltd.), Bangladesh, and 8 varieties from the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI). By using 9 SSR markers and 13 morphological traits, including both quantitative and qualitative traits, we observed correlation coefficients ranging from -0.3 to 0.7 for 8 quantitative traits, and Pearson's chi-square (χ2 value) ranging from 24.3 to 135.4 for 5 qualitative characteristics. Molecular analyses identified 46 unique alleles, with 93.5% polymorphism. The markers STM0031 and STM1016 had the highest PIC value of 0.9. Genetic parameters for SSR markers included effective number of alleles per locus (Ne) = 5.6, unbiased expected heterozygosity (uh) = 0.8, diversity (h) = 0.8 and Shannon's information index (I) = 1.8. Jaccard's similarity coefficients ranged from 0.2 to 0.8, representing significant diversity. Cluster analysis, using unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic average (UPGMA), grouped the accessions into five clusters based on SSR profiles. An association was foud between the marker STM0031 and two traits: the number of tubers per hill and the content of reducing sugars in the tubers. This study provides information on genetic diversity and marker efficacy. It will guide future breeding programmes towards the development of high-yielding and industrially valuable potato varieties.