Genetic Diversity of Carpetgrass Germplasm Based on Simple Sequence Repeat Markers

Carpetgrass [Axonopus compressus (Sw.) Beauv.] is an important warm-season perennial, turfgrass that is widely used in tropical and subtropical areas. The genetic diversity of 63 carpetgrass accessions in China was studied using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Fourteen SSR primer combinations generated a total of 49 distinct bands, 48 (97.96%) of which were polymorphic. The number of observed alleles ranged from 2 to 6, with an average of 3.5. Coefficients of genetic similarity among the accessions ranged from 0.24 to 0.98. Unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic means (UPGMA) clustered the 63 accessions into three groups, and not all samples from the same region belonged to the same group. SSR markers will promote marker-assisted breeding and the assessment of genetic diversity in wild germplasm resources of carpetgrass.