Genetic variation among Iranian oaks (Quercus spp.) using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers

Quercus is one of the most important woody genera of the Northern hemisphere and considered as one of the main forest tree species in Iran. In this study, genetic relationships in the genus Quercus, using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) was examined. Five species, including: Quercus robur, Quercus macranthera, Quercus infectoria, Quercus magnosquamata and Quercus libani were collected from Northwest forests of Iran and analyzed. Each tree was judged as a genuine type of each species according to the morphological structures. 10 RAPD primers reproducibly and strongly generated 104 discrete markers, ranging from 100 to 3000 bp. 100 of these were polymorphic (96%), with an average of 10.4 markers per primer. Jaccard`s similarity coefficient was calculated, and a dendrogram constructed, based on unweighted pair group method analysis (UPGMA). Cluster analysis of RAPD data, using the NTSYSpc 2.02 resulted in two clusters. Genetic analysis represented relatively high interspecific genetic distance, ranging from a minimum of 0.298 between Q. libani and Q. magnosquamata to a maximum of 0.625 between Q. macranthera and Q. magnosquamata. The range in distance coefficient indicated high variation among species for Quercus genus in Northwest forests of Iran. This result suggests that RAPD marker is useful for Quercus genetic diversity analysis.Key words: Quercus, genetic diversity, random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), jaccard, polymorphis