Genetic Diversity of Some Syrian Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) Varieties using ISSR Marker

The objective of this study was to assess genetic diversity and determine differences between several tobacco genotypes by examining molecular markers. In this work, Inter Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR) molecular marker was employed to study the genetic diversity of tobacco varietie grown in Syria which may be used as a source of information for tobacco genetic research and breeding. The genetic diversity of five tobacco varieties namely: Al-Baladi (Shik Al-Bint), Virginia, Al-Basma, Prilep, and Katrina was assessed. A total of 26 ISSR primers were used to amplify the DNA from these varieties, and produced 351 fragments (an average of 13.5 fragments per primer) out of which 186 were polymorphic (53%). Percent disagreement values (PDVs) mean average ranged from 0.10 for Al-Basma and Shik Al-Bint cultivars to 0.57 for Prilep and Virginia. The tree diagram based on PDV of the Unweighted Pair-Group Mean Average (UPGMA) separated Virginia (Western variety originally from USA) from the other four Eastern varieties at a distance over 0.52. On the other hand, all four Eastern varieties combined one cluster with Al-Basma and Shik Al-Bint cultivars being closest to each other at 0.1 PDV followed by Katrina, and Prilep at about 0.2. The ISSR-based genotype classification of the studied tobacco cultivars corresponded to their agricultural origins. Therefore, the ISSR technique could be implemented as a simple, effective and relatively cheap molecular marker to recognize tobacco cultivars, added to the fact of not being influenced by environmental conditions.