Analysis of Genetic Diversity of Local Olive Varieties in Turkey by AFLP Markers

Olive (Olea europaea L.) has great genetic variation in Turkey as important crop due to its economic value. There are many cultivars, types and landraces having good potential as a source of genes for productivity, oil quality and fruit characters which are difficult to differentiate by using morphological characters in different ecological conditions of Turkey. Therefore, genotypic identification studies are important for olive breeding, olive industry and genome analysis. In this study, local olive genotypes which are grown in Adana, Artvin, Aydin, Balikesir, Bursa, Canakkale, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Izmir, Manisa, Mersin and Tekirdag provinces of Turkey were investigated. Most of the genotypes in this study were used for the first time for evaluation of their genetic structures. Genetic diversity of local genotypes was estimated using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. Sixty three olive genotypes were analyzed with five EcoRI-MseI primer combinations. Informative AFLP markers were generated and scored as binary data. Five primer pairs used in AFLP analysis detected 173 loci, of which 135 (78%) were polymorphic. Similarity coefficient matrix was computed to cluster the data and to draw precise relationships among the 63 studied olive genotypes. The generated dendrogram revealed three major groups.