Assessment of genetic diversity among local pea ( Pisum sativum L.) accessions cultivated in the arid regions of Southern Tunisia using agro-morphological and SSR molecular markers

The pea (Pisum sativum L.) is arguably an important winter pulse crop and a fundamental source of proteins for human and animal nutrition. In Tunisia, pea cultivation is characterized by its instability, especially in the arid region of Southern Tunisia. We carried out an investigation of the agro-morphological and genetic diversity of 12 local pea accessions cultivated in the arid region. We analyzed 21 qualitative and 26 quantitative traits following the UPOV descriptors. Furthermore, 8 SSRs were employed to examine genetic polymorphism, differentiation, and population structure. Molecular and agro-morphological data distinguished all the accessions under investigation. A considerable phenotypic diversity among accessions was observed for many characters, including some related to agronomical performance. At the molecular level, all the SSRs were polymorphic, with an average of 0.44 PIC value per locus. Our work indicated the presence of a wide-ranging variation among the local pea accessions evaluated. The overall results indicated that the agro-morphological traits and SSR markers were reliable and effective for assessing the genetic diversity of phenotypic pea accessions.