The Evaluation of Genetic Diversity in Some Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) Samples of Iran Using RAPD Marker

Iran is one of the important distribution centers of medicinal species, including plant saffron (Crocus sativus L.). The presence or absence of genetic diversity in common native and commercial cultivars of saffron of the country has always been one of the important questions for researchers of this filed. In the present study, varioussaffronsamplesfrom different regions of Iran, including seventeen cultivated samplesfrom North Khorasan, Khorasan Razavi, South Khorasan, Lorestan and Ilam, eight wild types (C. haussknechtii) from Lorestan, Kermanshah and Ilam and one wild type (C. cancellatuse) from Kermanshah were collected and then their genetic diversity was obtained using random amplified polymorphism DNA (RAPD) marker. A total number of 161 DNA bands were produced by eight primers with an average of 14.3 bands; the primer Oligo 340 produced the most number of bands. The polymorphism percentage mean was 73.77%. Cluster analysis using UPGMA method divided the samplesinto four groups. In this grouping, there was a minimum distance between saffron populations collected from Kermanshah and Ilam. In other words, these two populations had the maximum genetic similarity with each other. The maximum similarity was observed between the samplescollected from Saleh-Abad and Lomar in Ilam and the minimum similarity was observed between ecotypes collected from Bisotoon in Kermanshah and Torbat-jam in the Khorasan Razavi province. In most cases, samples of different species were divided into different groups such that it can be said that this Genus has a great diversity. Although there are some samples of wild species (C. haussknechtii) that were with saffron crop species in a group in which there exists many molecular Genetics similarities between these species that is indicative of a common genetic background.