Assessment of genetic diversity of Moroccan Pistacia lentiscus L. populations using ISSR markers

Pistacia lentiscus L. is an indigenous species of considerable ecological and economic importance. An understanding of the patterns of genetic variation within and between Moroccan populations of this species is essential to design optimal genetic management strategies for its conservation. Here, inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) technique was used to study genetic variation of 11 populations sampled from different regions in Morocco. The 13 primers used produced 121 bands which 110 bands (90.90 %) were polymorphic. The mean values of PIC, RP, I and Ht were 0.79; 4.89; 0.47 and 0.31 respectively, implying the important genetic variability between the studied populations. Moreover, AMOVA analysis showed that 58% of total genetic variability is accounted within population and 42% between populations. The UPGMA dendrogram and Bayesian model-based clustering approach identified five gene pools structured independently from the geographical origin of populations. These results indicate that the ISSRs markers used represent an efficient and important tool for the genetic analysis of the lentisk and the existence of a large genetic variability in this species in Morocco