TY - JOUR T1 - Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) A1 - Lv, Jing A1 - Qi, Jianjian A1 - Shi, Qiuxiang A1 - Shen, Di A1 - Zhang, Shengping A1 - Shao, Guangjin A1 - Li, Hang A1 - Sun, Zhanyong A1 - Weng, Yiqun A1 - Shang, Yi A1 - Gu, Xingfang A1 - Li, Xixiang A1 - Zhu, Xiaoguo A1 - Zhang, Jinzhe A1 - van Treuren, Robbert A1 - van Dooijeweert, Willem A1 - Zhang, Zhonghua A1 - Huang, Sanwen Y1 - 2012/10/12 N2 - Knowing the extent and structure of genetic variation in germplasm collections is essential for the conservation and utilization of biodiversity in cultivated plants. Cucumber is the fourth most important vegetable crop worldwide and is a model system for other Cucurbitaceae, a family that also includes melon, watermelon, pumpkin and squash. Previous isozyme studies revealed a low genetic diversity in cucumber, but detailed insights into the crop's genetic structure and diversity are largely missing. We have fingerprinted 3,342 accessions from the Chinese, Dutch and U.S. cucumber collections with 23 highly polymorphic Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) markers evenly distributed in the genome. The data reveal three distinct populations, largely corresponding to three geographic regions. Population 1 corresponds to germplasm from China, except for the unique semi-wild landraces found in Xishuangbanna in Southwest China and East Asia; population 2 to Europe, America, and Central and West Asia; and population 3 to India and Xishuangbanna. Admixtures were also detected, reflecting hybridization and migration events between the populations. The genetic background of the Indian germplasm is heterogeneous, indicating that the Indian cucumbers maintain a large proportion of the genetic diversity and that only a small fraction was introduced to other parts of the world. Subsequently, we defined a core collection consisting of 115 accessions and capturing over 77% of the SSR alleles. Insight into the genetic structure of cucumber will help developing appropriate conservation strategies and provides a basis for population-level genome sequencing in cucumber. JF - PLOS ONE JA - PLOS ONE VL - 7 IS - 10 UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0046919 SP - e46919 EP - PB - Public Library of Science M3 - doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0046919 ER -