Characterization of some walnut cultivars and genotypes (Juglans regia L. ) via molecular marker techniques

ABSTRACTMSc THESISCHARACTERIZATION OF SOME WALNUT CULTIVARS ANDGENOTYPES (Juglans regia L.) VIA MOLECULER MARKER TECHNIQUESYıldız DOĞANDEPARTMENT OF HORTICULTUREINSTITUTE OF BASIC AND APPLIED SCIENCESUNIVERSITY OF CUKUROVASupervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Salih KAFKASYear: 2006, Page: 69Jury : Assoc. Prof. Dr. Salih KAFKAS: Prof. Dr. Nurgül TÜREMİŞ: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hakan ÖZKANThis study was performed to evaluate genetic relatedness between 62 walnutcultivars originated from Turkey and other countries via ISSR and RAPD DNAmolecular marker techniques. In order to determine genetic diversity among walnutgenotypes, 108 ISSR primers and 200 RAPD primers were screened primarily onseven selective walnut cultivars to obtain the most polymorphic primers. Consideringthe screening results, 25 polimorphic primers for each marker system were selectedto evalute whole walnut cultivars. 25 ISSR primers generated 181 total bands inwhich 129 were polimorphic. As for 25 RAPD primers, 144 primers werepolymorphic in total 211. Similarity index for ISSR technique ranged between 0.62-0.94. KR-2 and Sunland genotypes were found the closest genotypes, while KR-2with Sunland were the most distant. According to RAPD results, genetic similarityindex were changed between 0.63-0.95. Akça-2 and Karabodur genotypes were theclosest cultivars, while Yalova-1 with KR-2 were the most distant. According to thecombination of RAPD and ISSR data, genetic similarity index values were between0.65-0.93. Akça-2 and Karabodur were the closest genotypes, while Sunland withKR-1 were the most distant genotypes. Correlation between RAPD and ISSR geneticsimilarity matrix was found to be intermediate (0.46). In this study, ISSR and RAPDtechniques were found to be similar methods in determination of genetic diversityand discrimination of walnut cultivars, while ISSR was better in reproducibility.Key Words: Walnut, RAPD, ISSR, Genetic diversity, Juglans. regia.II