Detecting DNA polymorphism and genetic diversity in a wide pistachio germplasm by RAPD markers

Assessing the genetic diversity in the population is the prerequisite to start and develop plant breeding projects. Pistacia vera is considered as a commercial species of Pistacia genus. In Iran, Pistachio export is in the second place in terms of non-oil exports and in the first place among horticultural crops. Therefore, we collected and analyzed 11 pistachio genotype (Pistacia vera), from two provinces of Iran regions. Our aims were 1) to assess genetic diversity among some of Irainian pistachio cultivars 2) is there a correlation between species genetic and geographical distance? 3) Genetic structure of populations and taxa. We showed significant differences in quantitative morphological characters in plant species. Akbari cultivars depicted unbiased expected heterozygosity (UHe) in the range of 0.028. Shannon information was high (0.49) in Seifadini cultivars. Akbari cultivars howed the lowest value, 0.029. The observed number of alleles (Na) ranged from 0.261 to 2.700 in Shahpasand cultivars and Kalehghoochi cultivars. The effective number of alleles (Ne) was in the range of 1.021-1.800 for Akbari cultivars and Moosaabadi cultivars .Gene flow (Nm) was relatively low (0.38) in pistachio cultivars. The Mantel test showed correlation (r = 0.33, p=0.0001) between genetic and geographical distances. We reported high genetic diversity, which clearly shows the among some of Irainian pistachio cultivars can adapt to changing environments since high genetic diversity is linked to species adaptability. Present results highlighted the utility of RAPD markers and morphometry methods to investigate genetic diversity in pistachio cultivars