Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used to evaluate genetic similarity and interrelationship among 18 citrus cultivars, including 13 species and 5 hybrids. Out of 40 decamer primers screened, 25 were selected which produced 250 markers of which 231 were polymorphic and some species or cultivar specific RAPD markers. | Research Article Turk J Agric For 33 (2009) 375-384 © TÜBİTAK doi: Molecular characterization and genetic diversity analysis of citrus cultivars by RAPD markers . BAIG1, Sapna GREWAL2, Santosh DHILLON3,* 1National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, P. R. CHINA 2National Research Center on Plant Biotechnology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, 110012, New Delhi, INDIA 3 Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana 125004, INDIA Received: Abstract: Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used to evaluate genetic similarity and interrelationship among 18 citrus cultivars, including 13 species and 5 hybrids. Out of 40 decamer primers screened, 25 were selected which produced 250 markers; of which 231 were polymorphic and some species or cultivar specific RAPD markers. The Jaccard coefficient was used to calculate the genetic similarity. UPGMA was used to generate the dendrogram which clearly separated Jatti-Khatti from all major clusters at a similarity coefficient of . The average genetic similarity value observed across all the genotypes was , with the 2 sweet orange cultivars, Jaffa and Blood red, showing maximum similarity (82%). The Jatti-Khatti and King Mandarin were found to be genetically most diverse. The genetic variation between cultivars was quite high and revealed their different origins. Key words: Citrus, RAPD, UPGMA, Dendrogram, Genetic diversity, PCR Introduction Knowledge of genetic variation and genetic relationship among genotypes is an important consideration for classification, utilization of germplasm resources and breeding. Without determining the diversity reliably, it would not be possible to identify molecular markers or qualitative trait associations. Moreover the viability and purity of rootstocks can be analyzed through the .
