Investigating the genetic diversity of plane ('Platanus orientalis' and 'P. occidentalis') in different regions of Iran using SRAP markers

Genetic diversity among 76 Platanus orientalis and three P. occidentalis genotypes from six distinct geographical regions of Iran was investigated using sequence related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers. Thirteen SRAP primer combinations (PCs) amplified 237 fragments, of which 61 were polymorphic. Average PIC value over all PCs was 0.153. UPGMA dendrogram, based on Jaccard's similarity coefficient (r = 0.995), grouped the genotypes into two main clusters according to species and regardless of the regions. AMOVA analysis also showed significant differences among the species (P < 0.001). Sum of the first three principal components in PCA analysis could represent most of (87.2%) the total variation in the original dimensions and confirm the results of cluster analysis. No significant genetic differences between old and young P. orientalis trees and also, among geographical regions could be detected due to the propagation method of plane trees through cutting. It can be concluded that the SRAP marker is an effective tools for the assessment of genetic diversity among Platanus species and low genetic variation within P. orientalis may be related to the propagation method.