275 Assessment of Genetic Diversity of Some Important Grape Cultivars, Rootstocks, and Wild Grapes in Turkey Using RAPD Markers A.Y. Elidemir and I. Uzun Akdeniz University, Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture Antalya Turkey Keywords: Vitis vinifera, PCR, genetic diversity, RAPD pattern, Turkey Abstract DNA polymorphism was detected using RAPD markers in 20 grape cultivars (‘Italya’, ‘Yalova Incisi’, ‘Alphonse Lavalle’, ‘Atasarısı’, ‘Early Cardinal’, ‘Uslu’, ‘Perlette’, ‘Cardinal’, ‘Yalova Çekirdeksizi’, ‘Ergin Çekirdeksizi’, ‘Kozak Siyahı’, ‘Amasya Beyazı’, ‘Kozak Beyazı’, ‘Çavuş’, ‘Tekirdağ Çekirdeksizi’, ‘Yalova Beyazı’, ‘Flame Seedless’, ‘Hafızali’, ‘Superior Seedless’, ‘Barış’), ten rootstocks (‘Salt Creek’, ‘Fercal’, ‘Dodridge’, ‘Harmony’, ‘99R’, ‘5BB’, ‘110R’, ‘41B’, ‘16/13’, ‘420A’), and nine wild grapes (Macun, Macun 1, Macun 3, Beyton, Beyton 1, Beyton 3, Gebiz, Gebiz 2, Gebiz 3). Ten arbitrary primers were employed to detect RAPD markers. The total number of bands was 119, the percentage of similarity index was lowest (1%) between ‘Uslu’ and ‘Yeni dumanlı’, and the highest (53%) between ‘5BB and ‘Salt Creek’. INTRODUCTION Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is one of the oldest domesticated plants and has recently become the subject of extensive genetic studies due to its worldwide cultivation and economic importance. A wide range of morphological differences can be identified among cultivars, and ampelography, the identification method based on morphological characters, present clear limitations when cultivars are genetically too close. The use of RAPD markers has allowed progress in genetic classification (Ribault et al., 1997). A large number of different grape cultivars and wild grapes native to Turkey have been collected at Akdeniz University. Accurate identification of wild grapes native to Turkey is essential for research and viticulture. Although some wild grapes are known and many commercially cultivated grapes were introduced, interrelationships between wild grapes and commercially cultivated grapes are not exactly known. Such observation is important for germplasm conservation, evolutionary aspects, as well as for breeding objectives (Shubhada et al., 2001). RAPD technique is fast and easy (Luo et al., 2001). This technique has already proven its usefulness for the identification of cultivars in numerous plants. It has also been applied to genetically analyse grapevine cultivars and Vitis species (Ye et al., 1998), rootstocks (Shubhada et al., 2001), and wild grapes (Luo et al., 2001). RAPD technique is of great interest because it requires only minute amounts of template DNA, it is simple, and it is capable of detecting a high level of genetic variation. In this study, genetic relationships in a set of important grape genotypes in Turkey, comprising cultivated varieties, rootstocks, and wild grapes were analysed using RAPD markers. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 39 genotypes were used in the present study (Table 1). These genotypes could be classified into three categories: 1) 20 Vitis vinifera cultivars, 2) ten rootstocks and 3) nine wild grapes varieties. DNA extraction was carried out from young partially expanded leaves, following the protocol of Lodhi et al. (1994). DNA samples were quantified by agarose gel electrophoresis by comparison with standard dilutions of lambda DNA. Proc. IX th Intl. Conf. on Grape Genetics and Breeding Eds.: E. Peterlunger et al. Acta Hort. 827, ISHS 2009