ABSTRACT
The potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is the fourth most important crop food in the world and Colombia has one of the most important collections of potato germplasm in the world (the Colombian Central Collection-CCC). Little is known about its potential as a source of genetic diversity for molecular breeding programs. In this study, we analyzed 809 Andigenum group accessions from the CCC using 5968 SNPs to determine: 1) the genetic diversity and population structure of the Andigenum germplasm and 2) the usefulness of this collection to map qualitative traits across the potato genome. The genetic structure analysis based on principal components, cluster analyses, and Bayesian inference revealed that the CCC can be subdivided into two main groups associated with their ploidy level: Phureja (diploid) and Andigena (tetraploid). The Andigena population was more genetically diverse but less genetically substructured than the Phureja population (three vs. five subpopulations, respectively). The association mapping analysis of qualitative morphological data using 4666 SNPs showed 23 markers significantly associated with nine morphological traits. The present study showed that the CCC is a highly diverse germplasm collection genetically and phenotypically, useful to implement association mapping in order to identify genes related to traits of interest and to assist future potato genetic breeding programs.