An Assessment of Genetic Diversity in Cultivated Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) Clones in Iran Using RAPD Markers

Tea (C. sinensis L.) is the most important beverage crop in Iran and genetic base of current Iranian tea shrubs were achieved from three mass seeds namely: Dhongan, Batjan and Raighur. In this study, genetic diversity of 30 cultivated tea clones were evaluated using 45 RAPD markers and 13 morphological and 4 chemical characters respectively. Sixteen and of 45 markers produced 96 bands that 89 bands among clones were polymorphic and monomorphic respectively (92.71% polymorphic). Bands size was variable between 250-2500 base pair. Three main groups could be recognized from cluster analysis based on markers data: The first group consisted of internal selective clones, narrow Russian leaf and Seri-Lanka clonal cultivar (3020, KEN, DN). The second group consisted of Seri-lanka clonal cultivar (3013, 3019), Blead Russian leaf, Darjileing 27, clon100. The third group consisted of Yaboukita clonal cultivar, Darjileing 21, Assamica clonal cultivar, Darjileing 13 and Darjileing 18. The average gene diversity between clones based on Nei's index is estimated 0.34. The morphological and chemical investigation, placed of clones in denderograme are approved based on RAPD markers.