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Twenty five individuals of Javelin grunter, Pomadasys kaakan, collected from Abadan (29° N and 48° E) and Bandar Abbas (27° N and 56° E) stations along the Persian Gulf, was analyzed for relationship between two populations of this species, using Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP). A total of 410 putative loci were detected by six primer combinations, 88 of which were polymorphic (21.46%). The proportion of polymorphic loci in the Abadan and Bandar Abbas stations was calculated 88.64 and 68.18%, respectively. Average of heterozygosity in the Abadan (0.330) was higher than Bandar Abbas (0.222), which may be correlated with the environmental and ecological conditions of these stations. Nei’s genetic distance for the two populations was estimated 0.112. The phylogenetic tree revealed a clear distinction line between the two populations, supporting that dispersal of eggs and larvae in the Persian Gulf is spatially restricted. Pattern of isolation by distance was observed in this species, indicating that the gene pool of P. kaakan in the Persian Gulf was not homogeneous. The results also showed that AFLP is a potent technique for genetic fingerprinting and species identification.

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The applicability of RAPDs, AFLPs, and SSRs to examine genetic relationships in 36 populations of Triticum boeoticum from West of Iran was investigated. A total of 224 (135 polymorphic), 979 (429 polymorphic) and 246 (145 polymorphic) bands/alleles were detected using 14 RAPD primers, 17 AFLP primer combinations and 17 well distributed, mapped SSR markers, respectively. The polymorphic information content (PIC) value was high for SSRs (0.81) but low for RAPDs (0.45) and AFLPs (0.56) reflecting the hypervariability of the first system. AFLPs carried the highest Marker Index (MI) value (14.19), reflecting the high multiplexity ratio of this system. The correlation coefficients of similarity were statistically significant for all the three marker systems employed. UPGMA cluster plots separated the 36 populations into three major groups based on their RAPD fragment similarities, and into two major groups based on their AFLP, SSR and RAPD+AFLP+SSR genotypic similarities. These different marker systems should provide different levels of information, important in the management of germplasm resources. A good level of genetic diversity observed in the populations of Kermanshah and Lorestan Provinces shows that T. boeoticum invades a wide range of agroecosystems in the West of Iran.

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Comparative assessment of genetic diversity of 122 durum wheat genotypes (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum) was performed using 73 SSAP polymorphic fragments, 123 AFLP polymorphic loci and 104 SSR alleles. SSAP and AFLP data showed a clear demarcation between the cultivars and landraces and SSR data classified cultivars and landraces according to their origin. Furthermore, the estimated genetic diversity of Iranian landraces was higher compared to the foreign entries and a loss of genetic diversity was observed from landraces to cultivars. This study determined that differences in genetic relationships revealed by SSAP, AFLP and SSR distances could not be attributed solely to differences in the level of polymorphism detected by each marker system. The molecular evidence of genetic diversity decrease of the durum wheat gene pool further strengthens the strategic relevance of undertaking appropriate genetic conservation measures for food security.

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Sardari is one of the most important landraces of common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) that is mainly cultivated in drylands and mountainous area of Iran. Moreover, it shows a high level of genetic diversity. In the present research a total of 73 Sardari wheat ecotypes were evaluated for drought tolerance. Genetic diversity was analyzed using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) marker based on three pairs of primer combinations. Of the 2,431 AFLP bands detected, 1,582 (73.92%) were polymorphic. Cluster analysis divided all ecotypes into eight major groups. Ecotypes also showed genetic diversity for drought tolerance and were classified into three groups. The first group consisted of forty-two of the 73 landraces and had a low stress tolerance index (STI), ranging from 0.165 to 0.401, while the second (23 landraces) and the third group (7 landraces) had a medium and high STI ranging from 0.425 to 0.640 and 0.662 to 0.817, respectively. Discriminant analysis (DA) identified twenty-four markers selected from 218 AFLP markers that accounted for the difference between the three phenotypic groups. By using the selected markers, DA validated the phenotypic grouping, with a zero error rate. The results showed a high degree of genetic diversity between the Sardari ecotypes, suggesting that Sardari can be used as a germplasm source for wheat improvement toward releasing more desirable cultivars.

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Tall fescue is an out-crossing allohexaploid grass species extensively used for forage and turf worldwide. Cultivars of outbreeding forage grasses such as tall fescue are usually synthetic populations derived from intercrossing several selected parents using the polycross method. In this study, the application of AFLP molecular markers to optimize genetic diversity in a polycross breeding program of tall fescue was evaluated. For both phenotypic characters and AFLP molecular markers, two polycrosses of six parental plants with contrasting levels of genetic diversity were composed. A fifth polycross population was composed using six genotypes with the highest general combining ability. The results of this study showed that marker assistant parental selection produced superior progenies, indicating that selection based on molecular marker diversity may be an appropriate means to improve first generation progenies of tall fescue. This may be mainly useful in large breeding programs because the identification of diversity based on phenotypic traits is time consuming and may be influenced by environmental effects.