Genetic differentiation between Czech and Norwegian raspberry populations: new options for breeding

In total, 154 wild raspberry samples were collected from 26 localities representing a large area in Norway (21 localities) and a narrowly defined region of the Giant Mountains in the northern parts of the Czech Republic (5 localities). The samples were characterized for genetic diversity and population differentiation as well as for their potential use in crop breeding. Choice of plant material was based on the biogeographical similarity between the Giant Mountains and relevant areas in Norway, where plant communities may have evolved in parallel since the ice ages. The overall level of genetic diversity ĥ = 0.786, I = 2.153 was high. Numerous rare alleles were found for raspberries originating especially from the East Giant Mountains populations Jeleni louky and Krakonosuv lom. The overall degree of population subdivision measured by Wright’s fixation index ( F ST ) was of a moderate level of 0.28. The highest level 0.33 was found between populations in Northern Norway and 0.31 between populations in the Giant Mountains. The genetic structure was evaluated using Bayesian analyses as implemented using STRUCTURE software. According to the ΔK value, eight clusters (K8) were identified among all the analysed samples. The results of the analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) indicated that 79.7% of the total variation could be attributed to differences among individuals within populations, 15.3% was credited to differences among populations within regions, and only 5.0% was attributed to differences among regions. We concluded based on the results that Czech and Norwegian raspberry ( R. idaeus ) populations growing in natural high altitude and northern ecosystems are important genetic resources and represent a valuable source of genes and unique allele compositions for in situ and ex situ conservation and future raspberry breeding programmes.