SCoT marker diversity among Iranian Plantago ecotypes and their possible association with agronomic traits

Species of Plantago are mostly grown as weed, but some of them are used for local medicines. In order to achieve the genetic determinants of agronomic traits, a comprehensive genome-wide association mapping was performed on 39 selected ecotypes using 24 start codon targeted (SCoT) primers. To this end, two species of Plantago (Plantago psyllium and Plantago ovata) were used. The primers produced 431 remarkable bands with an average of 88.48% polymorphism, demonstrating the ability of these markers to distinguish the studied genotypes appropriately. A cluster analysis and population structure was performed for each species separately. The structure analysis grouped the 22 Plantago ovata ecotypes into three sub-groups. Moreover, the structure analysis also grouped the Plantago psyllium into 2 sub-groups. Among the 22 Plantago ovata ecotypes, eight ecotypes were admixture, while among the 17 Plantago psyllium ecotypes, two ecotypes were admixture. In the association analysis, according to the results of MLM model using both Q and K factors, 16 markers associated with the measured traits were identified. The markers included three loci associated with spike weight, two loci associated with plant height, number of spikes, spike length, days to flowering, days to maturity, one locus associated with 1000 grain weight, number of grain/spike and grain yield. Interestingly, 4 out of 24 SCoT loci were linked with more than one agronomic trait. These markers would enhance the efficiency of allele selection in Plantago breeding programs.