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Abstract
The suitability of randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprints as genetic markers in date palms was tested. Five date palm cultivars (Barbi, Nabtet Ali. Rothanah, Ajwa, and Sokkari) from Saudi well- known dates were subject to DNA fingerprint analysis. From 20 primers tested, only 12 were selected as reproducible, giving 64 bands. The RAPD profiles obtained were successfully used to differentiate the genotypes. Based on the pair-wise comparison of amplification products, the genetic similarity was estimated. The five date palm cultivars showed variation at the DNA level. The genetic similarity among all date palm cultivars ranged from 70 to 85%. Sokkary was quite distant from Haiti and Ajwa cultivats. A dendrogram was constructed using UPGMA analysis. On the basis of this analysis, the populations were clustered into two clusters: cluster l contained Barhi and Ajwa cultivars, and cluster II contained Nabtet Ali, Rothanah and Sokkari cultivars. Therefore, the polymorphism detected and its reproducibility suggest that RAPD markers are reliable for identification of Saudi date palm cultivars.