Genetic variation within the purple carrot population grown in ereğli district in Turkey

Although the majority of carrots grown in Turkey and around the world are orange, the production of anthocyanin-containing purple carrots has recently increased in Turkey due to the extraction of anthocyanin from these carrots for use as a natural food colorant. Purple carrot production for this purpose is concentrated in Ereğli District in Konya Province, and open-pollinated local purple carrot cultivars or landraces have been used for this production. Genetic variation within the local purple carrot populations in this region is of interest to plant breeders worldwide for the development of new purple carrot cultivars. Therefore, in this study, genetic variation within the purple carrot population grown in Ereğli District was assessed using SSR markers. Purple carrot samples were collected by visiting 14 purple carrot growing fields in this region. A total of 20 SSR markers were used. Two SSR markers were monomorphic and the remaining 18 SSR markers amplified 106 SSR alleles. The number of polymorphic alleles per SSR marker ranged from 1 to 14. The polymorphism information content varied from 0.29 to 0.85, and the expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.32 to 0.87. STRUCTURE analysis indicated the presence of two distinct populations within the purple carrot genotypes used in carrot production in Ereğli District. The genetic similarity of the genotypes ranged from 0.20 to 0.70. These results indicate that the genetic variation within these carrot populations in Ereğli District is high, and the purple carrot populations in this region are valuable genetic resources for the development of new purple carrot cultivars.