Morphological Evaluation and Genetic Identification of some Local Apricot Lines

Abstract

This study was carried out to evaluate some selected local apricot strains cultivated in private orchards of El-Amar region-Qaliubia governorate, Egypt. The present investigation was included several important pomological traits and genetic relationships among the selected lines. Different pomological characteristics of the strains as beginning of blooming date, date of full bloom, fruit set percentage and date of fruit ripening were determined as well as physical and chemical characteristics of fruits. Among 15 lines, AE1 was the earliest strain concerning all dates of bloom, full bloom and ripening times meanwhile, AL3 was the latest line as for these tested traits. The obtained results revealed the significant differences between all studied strains with regard to fruit physical and chemical characteristics. AM1, AM2, AM12, AM15 and AL3 recorded higher values concerning fruit weight. Regarding TSS %, a slight difference was noticed among the tested strains. Strains AM1 and H recorded the highest values of TSS% in the first and second season, respectively The genetic relationships among 15 apricot strains was estimated by using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technology for PCR reactions. The tested primers showed reproducible polymorphic patterns. These primers produced 207 bands, out of which 179 were polymorphic. The genetic similarity ranged from 0.61 to 0.93.The highest genetic similarity (0.93) was noticed between strain EA1 and strains EA2.. These molecular and pomological variations cleared that this germplasm contains promised plant materials for apricots selection, breeding and improvement programs that can extending the maturity dates and longing the marketing periods.