Abstract

Fifteen SSR Primer Pairs were used to estimate the level of polymorphism among 23 Citrus genotypes and four natural hybrids or bud mutation was selected from Kotra Germplasm Bank (IRAN). All fifteen loci assayed in citrus plant possessed a high level of polymorphism, with the number of alleles per locus ranging from 4 in TAA41 to 12 at CAT01, ATC09, AG14 ( an average, 8.27 alleles were detected per locus ). Cluster analysis with SSR markers resulted in 2 cluster groups: Group A: Yuzo and Poncirus. Group B: There are three separate subgroups within Group B; (i) genus Fortunella sp (ii) Mandarin subgroup: Citrus reticulate (C. clemantin), C. sinensis (Pineapple, Washington Navel), Natural types (Siahvaraz, Shalmahaleh, Moallemkoh and Kotra 4 hybrids) and (iii) C. Limon (Amol lemon - pear, Eureka, Rough Lemon), C. aurantifolia, C. aurantium, C. medica and C. grandis. Microsatellite analysis clustered Citron and sour orange cv cluster but these taxa were quiet distant from Fortunella SP.

Key words: Citrus, microsatellite, phylogeny, polymorphism, germplasm bank, genetic diversity.