Genetic Diversity Analysis of 126 Melon Germplasms Based on SSR Markers
To enhance the effective utilization of melon germplasm resources,this study evaluated the genetic diversity of 126 melon germplasms using cotyledon size(length and width)measurements at the seedling stage and genotypic analysis with 50 polymorphic SSR markers.The results indicated sig-nificant difference in cotyledon length and width among various melon germplasms,with a positive correlation observed between these two traits.Based on the cotyledon size data,91 melon inbred lines used for cotyledon size measurements were clustered into three categories:large,small,and medium cotyledon size groups.An average of 2.1 effective alleles was detected per SSR marker across 126 melon germplasms,with a range of 1.18 to 4.11.The Shannon-Weaver index averaged 0.80,with a range of 0.33 to 1.50.Based on the genotypic data of 50 SSR markers,all the 126 melon germplasms were clustered into four categories,suggesting that molecular markers are more accurate than morpho-logical indicators in the evaluation of melon germplasms.Overall,the findings demonstrate that the 126 melon germplasms possess a relatively high genetic diversity.