MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF FIG (Ficus carica L.) GERMPLASM FROM NORTHEASTERN BLACK SEA REGION

Turkey is well known for fig production and diversity in the world and fig trees are prevalent in various parts of the country. Eastern Black sea region has table fig cultivation, and together with local cultivars, unnamed numerous genotypes are present in the region. Progress in fig breeding requires the exploitation of genetic variation among cultivars, landraces and gene pools. Local cultivars (Patlican, Kara Patlican, Beyaz Torosun, Kara Torosun), standard cultivar (Bursa siyahi), and unnamed genotypes (from T1 to T37) as well were analyzed using SSR markers. The analysis revealed 116 alleles and all of them were found polymorphic. Genetic similarity ranged between 0.24 and 0.90. T24 and T25 genotypes (0.90) were the closest cultivars, while Bursa Siyahi cultivar and T19 genotype were the most distant genotypes (0.24). The number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 (LMFC37 and MFC4 primers) to 9 (LMFC30 primer). LMFC30 (9 alleles), MFC3 (8 alleles), FCUP038 and LMFC32 (7 alleles) SSR primers were the most polymorphic. The selected SSR primers provided a great resolution in evaluating the relationship of the local fig thanks to their rich allelic diversity and co-dominance.