Determination of genetic diversity among some almond accessions

More recently the use of different molecular markers in fruit species to determine particularly genetic diversity, genetic relationships and cultivar identification has been gained more importance. In the study, 13 randomly amplified polimorfic DNA (RAPD) and 4 inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers were used to evaluate genetic relationships among 95 almong accessions (26 foreign cultivars and 69 national cultivars and selections). The all plant material found in Almond Germplasm Repository in Gaziantep, Turkey. Both RAPD and ISSR markers distinguished the almond cultivars and selections in various levels. 17 RAPD and ISSR markers yielded a total of 73 scorable bands, which 51 are polymorphic. The two marker system exhibited variation with regard to average band sizes and polymorphism ratio. The average polymorphism was higher in ISSR (88%) compared to RAPD (74%). RAPD and ISSR marker systems were found to be useful for determining genetic diversity among almong genotypes and cultivars. Combining of two dendrograms obtained through these markers show different clustering of 96 almond specimens without geographical isolation. These results supported that almonds in Turkey indicated considerable genetic diversity.