Investigation of Genetic Variation in Cumin (Cuminum cyminum) Ecotypes of Khorasan Provinces using RAPD and ISSR Markers

 Determination of genetic variation in plant material is an initial step for identification, preservation and maintenance of heritable reserves as well as the basis for genetic research and breeding programs. The aim of this research was to study the genetic diversity and categorization of cumin ecotypes collected from North, Razavi and South Khorasan provinces based on RAPD and ISSR markers. Ultimately, the aim was to answer the following questions: Is there a genetic diversity between cumin populations and is there a correlation between the genetic diversity and geographic diversity of cumin ecotypes?   In this research, 20 different cumin ecotypes were cultivated for DNA extraction in the College of Agriculture of university of Birjand. The quantity and quality of the extracted DNA were evaluated using Nano drop and 1% agarose gel electrophoresis. For genetic variation, nine primers of RAPD and 30 ISSR primers were used.   The results of the analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that there were variations between and within populations. Based on the RAPD and ISSR markers, 10 and 9 percent of the variation were between populations and 90 and 91 percent were within populations, respectively. Based on the RAPD and ISSR markers the percentage of polymorphism 62% and 70%, the mean of polymorphic content was 0.26 and 0.3, the mean of Shannon's information index was 1.37 and 1.9, and the mean of the information index 2.1 and 2.76 were obtained, respectively. The results PCoA showed that for the RAPD marker, the first two components were accounted 40.4% and for ISSR marker, however, the first four components were accounted for 49.6% of the variation. The cluster analysis based on the similarity matrix grouped the ecotypes in 6 and 7 clusters, respectively.          According to the obtained information, such as the polymorphism, the large amplitude between the similarity coefficients (jacquard) and the grouping of ecotypes in distinct clusters, there is a genetic diversity between the studied cumin ecotypes. The other hand, in most cases, there was the correlation between the genetic variation in the collected ecotypes and geographic location.