Genetic Diversity of Iranian Melon Cultigens Revealed by AFLP Markers

Iran is a part of secondary origin of melons and therefore there is a wealth of genetic variation of these species in the country. Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) marker was applied to investigate the genetic variations among five major Iranian melon cultigens (Cucumis melo) and ‘Ananasi’ as a general well known cultivar. Ten primer pairs were used on ninety individuals producing 318 polymorphic fragments with an average of 31.8 fragments per primer combination. Polymorphism rates ranged from 80 to 100%. Genetic similarities among accessions were calculated according to Dice’s Similarity Index and used to construct a dendrogram based on the UPGMA method. Genetic distance estimates based on AFLPs ranged from 0.29 to 0.63 with a mean of 47± 0.3. Iranian melon genotypes and ‘Ananasi’ cultivar were formed as two separate groups on cluster analysis. The principal coordinate analysis showed separate allocation of the melon cultivar groups. Results demonstrated wide diversity of Iranian melon cultigens. The high number of alleles and the high expected genetic diversity detected with AFLP marker indicated that Iranian melon cultigens have distinctive characteristics and are an important genetic diversity pool which make them a valuable source of breeding materials.