African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 3 (4), pp. 215-219, April 2004                

Full Length Research Paper

Analysis of Tunisian date palm germplasm using simple sequence repeat primers

Zehdi S.¹*, Sakka H.¹, Rhouma A,² Ould Mohamed Salem A.¹ Marrakchi M.¹ and Trifi M.¹

¹Laboratoire de Génétique, Immunologie and Biotechnologie, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, Tunisia.

²Centre de Recherches Phoénicicoles, INRAT, Degache, Tunisia.

*Corresponding author. Phone: +216 71 88 43 38. E-mail: szehdi@yahoo.fr.

Accepted 11 February 2004

Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) markers involve polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of DNA using a single primer composed of a microsatellite sequence. ISSR technology rapidly reveals high polymorphic fingerprints and determines genetic diversity. We used genetic markers generated from selected ISSR primers to assess genetic diversity among a set of Tunisian date palm varieties. Seven primers were used to cluster 12 date palm varieties and 77 polymorphic markers were sufficient to identify all of the varieties. These discrete molecular markers were used to estimate genetic distances among the 12 accessions and to examine their genetic relationships. Data analysis identified phenetic groups that were in agreement with those obtained according to agronomic traits and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Among the 12 simple sequence repeat (SSR) motifs tested, the most abundant were AG.

Key words: Genetic diversity, ISSR polymorphisms, date palm, Pheonix dactylifera.