Genetic variability of cultivated plum (Prunus domestica L. & Prunus salicina Lindl.) in Morocco assessed by ISSR markers

Moroccan plum cultivars were genetically characterized for assessing diversity and relatedness. In this study, a total of 23 plum cultivars were analyzed using 14 Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) primers. A total of 100 bands were obtained, of which 84 were polymorphic (84%). The mean values of PIC, Rp, I and Ht were 0.45; 3.03; 0.42 and 0.27, respectively, implying the important genetic variability between the plum cultivars. Furthermore, the coefficient of genetic differentiation (GST) between all groups was 0.21 indicating that 21 % of total genetic variability was between groups and 79 % was within groups. The UPGMA dendrogram and Bayesian model-based clustering approach identified four gene pools of cultivars independently of their geographic origin and denomination. These results showed that the ISSRs markers can be a useful tool for detecting molecular polymorphism and to survey the genetic diversity in this fruit crop.