Application of ISSR Molecular Markers in Stevia rebaudiana

The genetic variability of 30 individuals of Stevia rebaudiana [Bertoni] from the germplasm collection of INTA EEA Cerro Azul (Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Estación Experimental Cerro Azul) was determined by applying Inter Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR) molecular markers. From the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) analysis, two clusters were defined that group the individuals by their genetic distances calculated according to the DICE index, obtaining a similarity that is in the range of 0.57 to 0.89. With the molecular data provided, targeted crosses could be projected for future genetic improvement programs of the species, without compromising the diversity found in this collection.