Molecular phylogeny of Qatari date palm genotypes using Simple Sequence Repeats markers

Abstract

The objectives of the present study is to analyze the genetic diversity among 15 different cultivars of date palm at the experimental farm of Qatar University using Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) markers and find out the genetic similarity and/or diversity among the well known Qatari date palm cultivars. DNAs were extracted from the young fresh leaves. Among 16 primer pairs tested for their ability to generate expected SSR banding patterns in Qatari date-palm genotypes, 10 primers successfully produced clear single bands in most of the studied genotypes. So, far, six SSR primers did not amplify clear bands in our genetic materials even using different PCR conditions. The amplified SSR band sizes ranged from 100-300 bp. A total of 40 alleles with an average of 4 alleles per locus were scored. Similarity coefficient matrix was computed to cluster the data and to draw precise relationships among the fifteen studied Qatari date palm genotypes.