Molecular and morphological characterization of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) genotypes sampled from Coruh Valley in Turkey.
The pomegranate is one of the oldest fruits that are traditionally consumed by the local inhabitants of the Coruh Valley, Turkey. In this study, the molecular and morphological characteristics of 19 promising pomegranate genotypes selected from the Coruh Valley were evaluated. For the morphological evaluation, 22 quantitative fruit characteristics were used. For the molecular evaluation, 47 random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) primers were used for polymerase chain reaction analysis. The principle component analysis of 22 quantitative fruit characteristics revealed that fruit weight and skin color are dominant traits for genotype discrimination. The unweighted average distance cluster of fruit characteristics revealed 3 distinct groups. Among the 47 RAPD primers, 9 exhibited reliable polymorphic patterns, and generated a total of 63 RAPD bands, of which 49.2% were polymorphic. The similarity matrix showed that the highest (0.920) and lowest (0.556) genetic similarities occurred between the APS13 and APS28 genotypes and the APS12 and APS42 genotypes, respectively. We determined clear discrepancies between the morphological and molecular data; consequently, the differences obtained among genotypes for fruit characteristics did not support genetic relationships among genotypes. In conclusion, molecular data provided the most reliable results at the DNA level.
Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey.
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Orhan
Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey sercisli@gmail.com.
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Ercisli
Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Selcuk University, Selcuklu, Konya, Turkey.
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Esitken
Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey.
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Sengul
D005638:Fruit / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics*; D005838:Genotype; D029561:Lythraceae / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics*; D010641:Phenotype; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique; D014421:Turkey