Studies on intra-cultivar variation of four iranian olive cultivars using morphological characteristics and RAPD markers

From twenty years ago, attempts have been started for improving and developing olive orchards in Iran. Programs as developing and Management of olive orchards are not possible unless through identifying of native olive cultivars. Analysis of morphological characteristics reveals a considerable degree of intra-cultivar variation within four traditionally recognized Iranian olive cultivars. Based on the morphological analysis carried out so far, the four traditional cultivars studied (“Zard”,”Fishomi”, “Mari” and “Khormazeitoon”) have been reclassified into 8 cultivars. To evaluate the accuracy of the new morphological classification, we examined the genetic diversity of these cultivars using RAPD primers (set C). The data were analyzed using simple matching similarity coefficient and the NTSYS-pc 2.02 K software. The results confirmed the accuracy of the new morphological classification and the Khormazeitoon cultivar were divided into four new varieties.