Microsatellite marker analysis of macedonian grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.) compared to Bulgarian and Greek cultivars

Abstract

Aims: Eleven Macedonian grapevine accessions were genotyped by microsatellite profiling at 9 microsatellite loci, in order to identify Macedonian cultivars and to evaluate the relationships among them. The comparison with grapevine cultivars from two neighbouring countries was also performed.

Methods and results: Clustering analyses based on the proportion of shared alleles resulted in two clusters containing all accessions except cultivar « Vranec », which was distant from the others. Comparison of genotyping results of Macedonian accessions with 76 Bulgarian and 298 Greek accessions revealed no identical genotypes. In the dendogram, Macedonian accessions are dispersed among Greek and Bulgarian grapevines, suggesting a common genetic background. Additionaly, the synonyms « Smederevka » = « Dimyat » = « Zoumiatiko » and « Belo Zimsko » = « Karatsova Naousis » were also evaluated.

Conclusions: Clustering analyses showed that authentic Macedonian cultivars are distant from two widespread cultivars « Vranec » and « Smederevka ». Comparison of Macedonian cultivars with their synonyms from Greece and Bulgaria revealed differences in allelic profiles at some loci, but further analyses are needed to confirm their unique allelic profiles.

Significance and impact of study: This work is a first step towards the genetic characterization of Macedonian grapevine germplasm, thus contributing to the molecular investigation of grapevine germplasm within the Balkan region.