Molecular characterization of national cocoa collection from the leading traditional growing areas in Ecuador

Ecuador is the leading producer and exporter of fine cocoa, with plantations over 80 years old, preserving distinctive aroma flavor characteristics. The research objective was to screen genetic variability a collection National cocoa from Ecuador's traditional growing areas, denominated as Centennial Cocoa Plants (CCNC). This germplasm 243 accessions analyzed 20 microsatellites (SSR) markers. DNA genotyping highly informative, generating total 109 SSR alleles an average 5.5 per locus. Only 0.8% duplicate were identified. diversity obtained 0.447, polymorphic content index 0.414, which shows high diversity. clustering, main coordinates, population assignment analysis revealed that samples are classified into two subpopulations (GN GM), differentiated by their level heterozygosity, fixation value 0.105. results showed microsatellite markers statistical tools provide useful information favors managing conserving in CCNC collection. Keywords: Sabor Arriba, genotyping,