Determination of Phylogenetic Relationships in Some Citrus Genotypes of Northern Iran Using ISSR Markers

Understanding phylogenic relationships and genetic diversity in Citrusis considered to be important in clarifying their genetic relationships, germplasm characterization and the registration of new varieties. There are some Citrus accessions in the country Citrus collections which have been classified merely based on their morphological traits. Molecular markers would help to infer their relationships with known cultivars. In the present research work, phylogenic relationships among 45 Citrus genotypes, including 33 unknown local genotypes and 12 commercially important Citrus varieties at the Collection in agricultural research institute of Kotra were investigated through ISSR markers. Genetic similarities among accessions were calculated according to the Jaccard Similarity Index and used to construct a dendrogram based on the unweighted pair groups method arithmetic averages (UPGMA), which put the 45 samples into nine major groups. Orange, mandarin and 19 unknown genotypes into group A, an unknown genotype into group B, two unknown genotypes into group C, an unknown genotype into group D, grapefruit, Pummelo, sour orange and six unknown genotypes into group E, two unknown genotypes into group F, Yuzo into group G, two unknown genotypes into group H and citron, Eureka lemon, sweet lime, Mexican lime into group I. Genetic diversity and phylogenetic analysis in citrus, provide useful information for further breeding programs, collection, preservation and utilization.