Molecular Diversity Assessment of Cumin Ecotypes Using AFLP Markers

Cumin (Cuminum cyminum) is an important medicinal plant in central and southern parts of Asia. In this study 49 cumin ecotypes were assessed using AFLP markers. Six primer combinations, (EcoRI/MseI) made 126 bands of which 60 of them showed polymorphism. The primer combinations E+AGC/M+CTC and E+AGT/M+ CGG showed the highest and lowest polymorphic bands, respectively. Polymorphic information content values based on obtained molecular data varied among all ecotypes that the highest and the lowest PIC value belonged to E+AGT/M+CGG and E+AGC/M+CTC, respectively. Result showed Yazd and Semnan populations had the highest difference with 8 different bands whereas Esfahan, Khorasan-Razavi and Kerman were the closest population based on differences in AFLP bands. Meanwhile E+AGT/M+CGG had the highest polymorphism in Pars and Yazd while E+AGC/M+CTC in Kerman and Golestan showed the highest polymorphism. Totally E+AGT/M+CGG had the highest polymorphism and can be recommended for recognition of ecotypes from each other. Molecular diversity among cumin populations showed Kerman, Esfahan and Khorasan-Razavi have the same origin. Also it is expected that crossing of Semnan and Pars populations, which are further away can produce a powerful hybrid. Based on the obtained result, it can be concluded that there is a high potential of variability in Iranian cumin populations, which is a very important source for cumin breeding objectives.