Evaluation of Genetic Diversity in Three Diospyros Species, Collected from Different Regions in Iran, Using ISSR and SCoT Molecular Markers

ABSTRACT The Diospyros genus contains approximately 400 to 500 species, among which D. kaki is cultivated as the edible persimmon. Knowledge about the genetic diversity of Diospyros genotypes is of high significance for breeding programs. In this research, the genetic diversity of 57 Diospyros genotypes collected from different regions of Iran was evaluated using inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR) and start codon targeted (SCoT) markers. Seven ISSR and 10 SCoT markers produced a total of 42 and 75 fragments with the averages of 6 and 7.5 fragments per primer, respectively. The average polymorphism information content (PIC) for ISSR markers was 0.3 and for SCoT markers was 0.36. The average marker index (MI) for ISSR and SCoT markers were 1.81 and 1.79, respectively. Cluster analysis based on Jaccard’s genetic similarity coefficient and UPGMA method classified 57 Diospyros genotypes into four main groups based on ISSR and SCoT markers. However, the clustering pattern based on the combination of ISSR and SCoT markers data separated the species genotypes better than each marker alone. Accordingly, groups 1 and 2 contained all D. kaki genotypes, both encompassing various subgroups, group 3 included D. lotus and group 4 included D. virginiana genotypes. Genotype distribution visualized with principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) was in accordance with the cluster analysis. Based on our results Iran is a rich source of Diospyrus germplasm, and a combination of ISSR and SCoT markers can be used as an accurate technique for evaluating genetic diversity among the Diospyros genotypes.