Genetic resources of fruit trees in the north of Iran: morphological and molecular diversity

The north of Iran has a long history of cultivation of temperate and subtropical fruits. Wild types and local cultivars of many fruit trees such as pear, persimmon, pomegranate, olive, chestnut, medlar, apple, nut, and stone fruits are scattered around the coastal and mountainous areas of the north of Iran in provinces such as Golestan, Mazandaran, Guilan, Ardabil, and Azarbaijan. For different purposes such as breeding, germplasm conservation, and cultivar improvement; the natural repository of fruit trees in this part of Iran should be characterized. From the last decade, in the Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran (ABRII), Branch of North Region, morphological characteristics and different molecular markers such as SSR, ISSR, and PCR-RFLP have been used for genetic diversity analyses of many fruit trees. Here, the results of those studies on the genetic diversity of some fruit trees grown in the north of Iran, such as local pear, olive, and chestnut using morphological characteristics and molecular markers will be presented.