Genetic Diversity and Relationships among Local Olive (Olea europeaea L.) Genotypes from Gaziantep Province and Notable Cultivars in Turkey, Based on SSR Markers

Olive and olive oil have a prominent place in the cultures of the countries within the Mediterranean basin including Turkey. The genetic relationships among 30 olive (Olea europaea L.) genotypes sampled from Gaziantep province in Turkey were examined using 10 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers (DCA9, DCA11, DCA15, DCA18UD04, UDO9, UD011, UDO12, UD022, UD024). Also, three well known Turkish and one foreign olive cultivar were also included within the SSR analysis. The number of alleles per locus of the SSR markers ranged from 5 (DCA15, UDO9) to 14 (DCA9) (average 7.9), for a total of 79 alleles. Similarity coefficients were calculated on the basis of 79 amplified bands. A dendrogram was created according to the 10 SSR markers by the unweighted pair-group method. The banding patterns obtained from the SSR primers allowed all of the genotypes/cultivars to be distinguished. According to the dendrogram, the 33 olive genotypes and cultivars were clustered into five main clusters. The most closely related genotypes were 'Oguzeli 3' and Tavuzeli with 0.80 similarity ratio. The most genetically divergent cultivars were 'Yavuzeli 6' and `Kilis Yaglik' (0.30), Tavuzeli 6' and 'Sauranis (0.20), Nizip 7' and Tavuzeli 4' (0.15), Islahiye 5' and Nizip Yaglik' (0.10). In conclusion, SSR analysis can be an efficient method for olive genotypes and cultivar identification and can offer valuable informative data to identify olive genotypes and cultivars grown in Turkey.