Genetic Relatedness among Six Common Phoenix dactylifera (Palmae) Cultivars in Ismailia Region, Egypt

SDS-PAGE electrophoretic analysis of young leaves protein was used to asses the genetic relatedness among 54 specimens belonging to 6 common cultivars of Phoenix dactylifera L. (Aglany, Amry, Haiany, Bent Aisha, Samany, and Zaghloul), that were collected from 7 different locations in Ismailia region. A total of 10 different protein bands were collectively detected in the gels of the 54 studied specimens. The resulted protein profile comprised one monomorphic band. The maximum number of bands observed was 10 bands found in one specimen of Zaghloul cultivar. While the minimum number of bands observed was three bands found in one specimen of Aglany cultivar and two specimens of Bent Aisha cultivar. The data of the allele frequencies of the six studied date palm cultivars revealed that all the alleles in Haiany cultivar were monomorphic, except in three loci with the lowest percentage of polymorphic loci (30%). While Bent Aisha and Aglany cultivars have the highest polymorphism (70% and 80%, respectively). In addition, it was found that the ratio of gene diversity/locus varied greatly within the specimens of the six studied date palm cultivars. Agglomerative cluster analysis, based on the genetic distances of the studied 54 specimens, revealed the variations and relatedness among the six collected cultivars.