Genetic diversity of yield-related traits in chickpea landraces revealed by ISSR and SCoT markers

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is a self-pollinated legume of the family Fabaceae that contributes to soil fertility and global food security as a major source of dietary protein, energy, minerals, vitamins, fiber, and health‑promoting phytochemicals. To enhance the utilization of chickpea landraces in breeding programs, 25 genotypes from the National Gene Bank were evaluated for key yield‑related traits (flowering time, maturity, plant height, pod, PodLB, pods per plant, 100‑seed weight, and seed yield per plant) and genotyped with eight SCoT and ten ISSR primers. Among the yield-related traits, NoPod, HSW, and YP showed the greatest genetic variability and high heritability, indicating strong potential for selection in chickpea improvement. The primers generated 155 and 105 bands, of which 123 (81%) and 60 (57%) were polymorphic for SCoT and ISSR, respectively, revealing substantial genetic diversity in this collection. Combined analyses of phenotypic data, cluster patterns, and population structure identified two highly divergent groups, each containing three promising genotypes, whose inter‑crossing is expected to produce transgressive segregants for yield and its components. Marker–trait association analysis further detected several SCoT and ISSR bands consistently linked with agronomically important and correlated traits, suggesting putative linkage or pleiotropic effects of underlying loci. These diverse parental groups and candidate markers provide a useful resource for marker‑assisted selection and the development of climate‑smart chickpea varieties adapted to dryland farming systems in Egypt and the wider Middle East.