Effectiveness of molecular markers for almond germplasm management

Abstract

Tunisia was one of the main routes used to spread almond all over the Mediterranean region which explains the high diversity noted during recent prospections. In the framework of GREMPA a collection of almond was established in Sfax in the early seventies from which many others were derived. While quantitative and biochemical parameters are environmental dependant molecular markers offer a means to identify and characterise the relationships among cultivars and accessions and for germplasm management. Since little molecular information is available regarding almond cultivars grown in Tunisia, the present study aimed to reveal the genetic diversity and relatedness among the most important Tunisian almond cultivars and to analyse the authenticity of the most important local cultivars preserved in the national collection of >Ettaous>. While comparing 60 almond cultivars, by random amplification of their DNAs with 12 primers, 117 bands were detected, of which 92 were polymorphic (78, 6%). The information obtained from this work was useful for National Collections management and has revealed many duplications and mislabelling for the existing genotypes.