Genetic Relatedness among Date Palm Cultivars in Jordan Using Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) Markers

Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) technique was used to study the genetic variations among fifteen Date Palm cultivars grown in Jordan. Nine primer pair combinations were used in the selective amplification and the amplified fragments were detected using 6% of polyacrylamid gel electrophoresis. The best results were obtained with five primer combinations that yielded 215 polymorphic bands of a total of 433, with an average of 52% of polymorphism. The highest similarity (28%) was observed between Ahmer Talal and Anbarah (grown in King Abdullah farm), while no similarity was found among Tabarzal, Fakher, Mekfazy and Deglet Noor and between Haiani and Deglet Noor, Barhee and Deglet Noor and Halawy and Mekfazy. The used AFLP markers have the ability to detect genetic variations among date palm cultivars and can be used for confirming true types issued from micro-propagation.