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Exploring Genetic Variations Among Palestinian Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) Germplasm Using RAPD Molecular Markers

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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section B: Biological Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Characterizing the various genotypes of watermelons (Citrullus lanatus) is an important step to manage effectively the use of genotype resources. The aim of this work is to determine the level of genetic diversity among different landraces of Palestinian watermelon using RAPD molecular markers. For this, 14 RAPD primers were used to amplify the DNA extracted from 8 watermelon landraces. The banding pattern from RAPD analysis was scored visually for each primer and the data matrix was developed for UPGMA-based cluster analysis. Using the Nei and Li distance coefficients, cluster analysis was performed. Marker index and polymorphic information content as well as resolving power was calculated for all the markers. Twelve RAPD markers produced various banding patterns and revealed polymorphic bands of which 52 (94.6%) bands were polymorphic and 3 (0.035%) were monomorphic. The highest percentage of polymorphic markers was 100% and the lowest was 60%. The genotypes were mainly divided into two clusters based on the dendrogram derived from RAPD data. Cluster-I, which has two sub-clusters, included seven genotypes, sub-cluster-I.a contained only two genotypes (UB-199–11 and UB-510–20), and sub-cluster-I.b included two groups containing in which genotypes UB-402–19 and UB-578–21-2 represented in group 1 and genotypes UB-307–18-2, UB-377–19, and UB-578–21-1 represented in group 2. Cluster-II contained only one genotype accession (UB-307–18-1). Based on 12 RAPD, the similarity coefficients of Watermelon genotypes ranged from 0.31 to 0.82.

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All data and materials of the study have been presented in the main manuscript.

Abbreviations

FAO:

Food and Agriculture Organization

AFLP:

Amplified fragment length polymorphism

SSR:

Simple sequence repeat

EST-SSR:

Expressed sequence tags-SSRs

SNP:

Single nucleotide polymorphism

RAPD:

Random amplified polymorphic DNA

UWAC:

Union of Agricultural Work Committees

PCR:

Polymerase chain reaction

UPGMA:

Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Average

MVSP:

Multi variate statistical package

MI:

Marker index

PIC:

Polymorphic information content

RP:

Resolving power

NB:

Number of bands

NPB:

Number of polymorphic bands

NMB:

Number of monomorphic bands

PPB:

Percentage of polymorphic bands

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UWAC) for providing the watermelon landraces seeds.

Funding

No funding was received for conducting this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Palestine Technical University-Kadoorie, P.O.Box: 7, Tulkarm, Palestine

    Yamen A. S. Hamdan, Abdalmenem I. M. Hawamda, Laith badran, Estabraq Daraghmeh, Linda Mar’i, Anas Khalaf, Ramiz Maraabeh, Raghda Ibrahim & Mazen Salman

  2. College of Agriculture, Hebron University, P.O.Box: 40, Hebron, Palestine

    R. Basheer-Salimia

Authors
  1. Yamen A. S. Hamdan
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Contributions

Yamen Hamdan, Abdalmenem Hawamda and Mazen Salman designed and carried out the study. Laith badran, Estabraq Daraghmeh, Linda Mar’i, Anas Khalaf, Ramiz Maraabeh and Raghda Ibrahim carried out the field and laboratory work. Yamen Hamdan and Rezq Basheer-Salimia carried out the statistical analyses and interpretation of the study. Yamen Hamdan and Abdalmenem Hawamda wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Yamen Hamdan wrote the final draft of manuscript. Yamen Hamdan and Mazen Salman reviewed the final draft. The authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yamen A. S. Hamdan.

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Significance Statement: Characterizing watermelon genotype is an important step for effective management of genetic resources. Utilizing molecular methods, this study provide valuable insights into the genetic diversity of Palestinian watermelon landraces, essential for conservation and breeding ctivities.

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Hamdan, Y.A.S., Hawamda, A.I.M., badran, L. et al. Exploring Genetic Variations Among Palestinian Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) Germplasm Using RAPD Molecular Markers. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., India, Sect. B Biol. Sci. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40011-024-01612-5

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