Genetic relationships among Rosa species based on random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers

To investigate the genetic diversity of Rosa accessions, random amplified polymorphism DNA (RAPD) approach was employed. Nine of ten primers amplified 138 scorable RAPD loci with 111 polymorphic bands (80%). Percentages of polymorphic bands ranged from 75 to 100%. Sizes of amplified DNA fragments ranged from 250 to 6000 bp and were used for statistical analyses. Cluster analysis based on presence-absence of bands used Jaccard similarity coefficient and the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic averages (UPGMA). Genetic similarities between Rosa cultivars ranged from 0.42 to 0.84. The dendrogram revealed two main clusters, revealing considerable genetic diversity among these cultivars. Cluster I was divided into two subgroups. RAPD proves a useful tool for evaluating genetic diversity and relationships among different rose cultivars.