African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 6 (20), pp. 2393-2399, 18 October 2007   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2007 Academic Journals        

Full Length Research Paper

Molecular diversity in persimmon (Diospyros kaki L.) cultivars growing around Hatay province in Turkey

Merve Yýldýz¹, Safder Bayazıt², Suna Cebesoy¹ and Sümer Aras^1*

¹University of Ankara, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Biotechnology Section, Tandoğan, 06100 Ankara, Turkey.

²University of Mustafa Kemal, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Horticulture, Hatay, Turkey.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: aras@science.ankara.edu.tr. Tel: +90-312-2126720/1088, Fax: +90-312-2232395.

Accepted 19 July, 2007

Genetic relationships among Diospyros kaki L. growing around Hatay province in Turkey were assessed by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) assay. Ten decamer primers were selected from 50 primers. These primers yielded a total of 155 bands and 126 of them were recorded as polymorphic. Pairwise genetic distances of the samples were used to construct dendograms using Unweighted Pair-Group Method of Arithmetic Average (UPGMA). The study suggests that the morphological differences among cultivars of persimmon might be the result of genetic differences rather than the ecological or growing conditions. The study forms a basic contribution to the characterization of D. kaki population in Turkey.

Key words: DNA fingerprinting, Diospyros kaki L., genetic variability, RAPD.