Genomic data is a powerful tool. However, the phylogenetic relationships among different ecological races of avocado remain unclear. Here, we used the results from specific length amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq) and transcriptome data to infer the population structure and genetic diversity of 21 avocado cultivars and reconstructed the phylogeny of three ecological races and two interracial hybrids. The results of the three analyses performed (unweighted pair-group methods with arithmetic means (UPGMA) cluster, Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA), and STRUCTURE) based on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from SLAF-seq all indicated the existence of two populations based on botanical race: Mexican⁻Guatemalan and West Indian genotype populations. Our results based on SNPs from SLAF-seq indicated that the Mexican and Guatemalan races were more closely related to each other than either was to the West Indian race, which also was confirmed in the UPGMA cluster results based on SNPs from transcriptomic data. SNPs from SLAF-seq provided strong evidence that the Guatemalan, Mexican, and Guatemalan × Mexican hybrid accession possessed higher genetic diversity than the West Indian races and Guatemalan × West Indian hybrid accessions. Six race-specific Kompetitive allele specific PCR (KASP) markers based on SNPs from SLAF-seq were then developed and validated.
Keywords: Persea americana; SLAF-seq; ecological races; phylogenetic relationships; transcriptomics.