MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF PLUM CULTIVARS BY AFLP MARKERS

A total of fourteen plum cultivars (1 cultivar from European and 13 cultivars from Japanese groups) were sampled from Kahramanmaras province located in Mediterranean region of Turkey and were studied using. four pairs of amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. A total of 145 bands were scored and among them 89 (60.85%) were polymorphic. Resolving powers of the AFLP primers ranged from 0.577 to 1.347 and polymorphism information content ranged from 0.412 to 0.829 with an average of 0.601. Fourteen plum cultivars grown in worldwide, could be classified into the seven major clusters by UPGMA analysis and European plum cv. President was found the most distinct group among them. The highest similarity was observed between Globe Sun and October Sun cultivars, while the lowest one was between President and Queen Rosa cultivars. The results suggested that AFLP is a good method to determine genetic relatedness among plum cultivars.