Detection of DNA Polymorphism of Safflower by Using of RAPD Markers

In order to investigate the genetic polymorphism among 18 important Iranian and two foreign cultivars of safflower, RAPD marker was used. In this experiment 17 primer sets (ten mer) were used for amplification in reactions. Out of 279 markable bands, 256 bands were found in the range of 100 to 3000 bp. Cluster diagrams produced by means of the unweighted pair-group method arithmetic average (UPGMA) divided the lines into 4 main classes. Class 1 included two exotic genotypes and class 2 included two Iranian landrace lines and one bred cultivated Iranian. Class 3 included 13 wild and local domestic Iranian genotypes. One improved Iranian line (kw4) and Isfahan line placed in class 4. The most genetic diversity (0.863) was observed between Iranian landrace (KW4) and exotic genotype (S710). But in most Iranian landraces, the genetic diversity was low (0.241). The result showed that there is a relationship between the genetic diversity and geographical distances in exotic and indogenous genotypes. But this reletion is not among indogenous cultivars. That might be due to originating from the same parent.