Comparison of isoenzyme and random amplified polymorphic DNA data for determining intraspecific variation in date palm

ABSTRACT

Variation in isoenzyme and random amplified polymorphic DNA [RAPD] for Egyptian tissue culture-derived date palm cultivars were used to determine the utility of these markers assessing genetic variation among these cultivars. lsoenzyme patterns of esterase, polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase and acid phosphatase showed that the highest similarity index values were detected between individuals of cv. Hyani 1, 2 and 3 indicating the strong relationships and high similarity between the individuals in the same cv. Hyani. Surprisingly, Hyani 4 had low similarity index with Hyani 1, 2 and 3. The moderate similarity index values were detected between individuals of cv. Hyani 1, 2 and 3 and the three other cultivars Zaghloul, Amhat and Samani. DNA fingerprints and the DNA polymorphism for date palm cultivars were obtained with 2 of the tested primers [OPA 15 and OPA 16]. A total of eleven amplification products [bands] were generated using these two primers for the characterization of four date palm cultivars. Among the eleven bands generated in this study, nine bands were useful as polymorphic markers. The highest similarity index values, using DNA fingerprint, were detected between cv. Hyani 3 and each of cvs. Amhat and Hyani 4. DNA fingerprint dendrogram divided the date palm cultivars into cluster A [cvs. Hyani 1, 2, 3, 4, Amhat and Samani] and cv. Zaghloul with very low similarity index 0.068. In conclusion, our results showed that the similarity indices for DNA fingerprint data between date palm cultivars Hyani 1, 2, 3, 4, Zaghloul, Amhat and Samani were higher than those for isoenzyme patterns. Therefore, RAPD markers are reliable method to distinguish among most of the available commercial date palm cultivars