Abstract

Date palm is an important fruit crop cultivated mainly in arid and semiarid regions. The DNA polymorphism among 69 selected Iranian native genotypes belonging to six origin groups and 1 Moroccan genotype was assessed using 10 inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) primers. Results revealed high genetic variability among studied genotypes. Of the 65 known loci, 46 were polymorphic. Polymorphism information content (PIC) values varied from (6–30 %) with an average 19.4 %,. High number of alleles (Na=1.67), Effective alleles (Ne=1.49), Shanon information index (I=0.40), and polymorphic loci (P= 67.69 %) were detected in “Kerman” population. Based on Nei`s genetic identity, each of the regions of “Morocco”, “Fars” and “Bushehr” populations were located in separate groups, but the rest of the populations were located in the same one. Structure analysis of the studied association panel manifested sevev subpopulations and there was no connection between these subpopulations and their geographical distribution. Likewise, most studied date palm genotypes have mixed genotypes related to their common genetic background. Our finding showed that ISSR markers could recognize male stocks of date palm that are important in crossing programs. This research addresses a more comprehensive picture of Iran's date palms genetic variability and structure. This studied panel can apply parental selection for future breeding programs such as mating designs and mapping populations.