Molecular diversity and phylogenetic analysis of Azerbaijan oaks (Quercus spp.) revealed by RAPD markers

Although Azerbaijan is a center of natural distribution and diversity of genus Quercus around the world, less published data can be found about PCR-based genetic diversity in prevalent oak accessions. The present study aims at finding molecular variation among the Quercus species using RAPD markers. In this study, genomic fingerprinting in five Azerbaijan oak species (Quercus spp.) was carried out using 10 RAPD markers. The result showed that a total of 113 DNA fragments were amplified, of those, 91 bands were polymorphic. The highest PIC, EMR and MI values was observed in the primers OPD-05, OPB-01 and OPB-03. The genetic similarity among the genotypes examined ranged from 0.333 to 0.818 with an average of 0.498. Species-specific DNA fragments were found in all species examined. Based on the cluster analysis using UPGMA method and Jaccard’s similarity index, all the examined oak species fell into three main groups and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) supported the clustering result. High genetic diversity was found in the tested genetic germplasm of oak species. The results of this study would be very useful for oak improvement program.