Molecular andmorphological diversity amonggrapevine (vitis vinifera L.) cultivars in Iran.

1Biology Department and Biotechnology Research Center of Urmia University, Urmia, Iran2Agriculture and Natural Resources Center, Urmia, Iran*Corresponding Author Email: rogayeh.zeinali@yahoo.comABSTRACT: Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is one of the most important agricultural productsbecause of the nutritional, medicinal and economical values. In the present study, weemployed ISSR molecular marker and morphological traits to investigate genetic variationamong different cultivars of V. vinifera. Genetic diversity was investigated among 20 varietiesof Vitis vinifera collected from west Azerbaijan using 10 ISSR primers. A total of 108 bandswere produced which 91 were polymorphic. Primers 820 and 836 amplified the lowest and thehighest number of bands, respectively. The UPGMA cluster analysis was performed based onthe presence and absence of bands. Jaccard similarity coefficient ranged from 0.33 to 0.87with r = 0.91. The dendrogram was drawn by help of NTSYSpc 2.02 software which revealedsix main clusters. In morphological part 26 traits were studied. Jaccard similarity coefficientranged from 0.52 to 0.81. The least distance was observed between seedless cultivars. Resultsof the study provided us with valuable diversity among these varieties which could be usedfor further breeding studies. Results also proposed ISSR marker as a rapid, easy, economicaland confident technique for evaluation of genetic diversity at intra-species level in grapevine.Key words: Grapevine; Genetic Variability; ISSR marker; PolymorphismINTRODUCTIONThe family of Vitaceae includes 17Genus and Vitis vinifera L. is considered as oneof the most important cultivars of the family,which is cultivated widely between 25 and 50degrees in north latitude (Rossetto et al.‚ 2001;Almadanim et al.‚ 2007). Grapevine is diploidand its genome is fairly small about 475 Mb(Myles et al.‚ 2010). Nowadays, having 1000species around the world, grape is considered asan important and economic product (Lowe etal.‚ 2006). Because of geographical and climaticconditions, Iran is one of the most suitable areasfor cultivating grape in the world (DoulatiBaneh et al.‚ 2007; Erfani Moghadam et al.‚2008). The tendency to cultivate this cropincreases worldwide due to consumptiondiversity, high income, low production expensesand resistance against drought, particularly indry cultivated varieties (Lowe et al.‚ 2006;Adam Blondon et al.‚2004). Having differentuses, grape has been considered as an importantnutritional source and vast studies have beenconducted to identify cultivars of this valuableproduct. Iran is one of the pioneers in bringingup and dispersion of grapevine in the world anddifferent cultivars of grape can be seen indifferent regions from North to South and Eastto West, estimated to be about 600 cultivars(Tafazzoli et al.‚1993; Doulati Baneh et al.‚2007). Considering grape as one of the mostimportant agricultural products in the world, itis necessary to have a breeding plan to improveits fruits and leaves. Genetic diversity is of greatimportance in biology sciences such as ecology,evolution biology, taxonomy and genetics.Nowadays, enormous markers with differenttechnical diversity have been identified(Talhinhas et al.‚ 2003). One of the bases ofplant gradation is to have access and knowledgeof diversity extent in genetic collections and indifferent phases of gradation projects. It is alsoof great importance to get information aboutgenetic distance in the population of breedingprogram (Semagn et al.‚ 2006; This et al.‚2007). So far, morphological, biochemical and