An Investigation of the Genetic Relationship of some Iranian Wild and Cultivated Grapevines through Microsatellite Markers

To assess the genetic relationships between 72 cultivated and 65 wild grapevines in West Azerbaijan and in Kurdistan, 19 SSR markers were employed. Microsatellitic primer pairs amplified, a total of 163 alleles with an average of 8.6 alleles/locus (for cultivars) and 153 alleles with an average of 8.05 alleles/locus (for wild samples). The expected heterozigosity varied from 0.7 in cultivars to 0.73 in wild grapevines. The observed heterozigosities were 0.72 for cultivars and 0.68 in wild grapes. Grouping genotypes based on the molecular data separated the cultivated and wild grapevines, although some wild genotypes were grouped together with cultivars. Molecular analyses, employing genomic microsatellites did not reveal any clear and close relationship between wild populations and cultivars. So, it can be concluded that either these cultivars have been introduced into these regions, or the first individuals domesticated, have vanished over the passage of time.