Rapid and Precise Gender Differentiation in Date Palms (Phoenix dactylifera L.) Using High-Resolution Melting Analysis

The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a dioecious plant, meaning that individual trees are either male or female. Knowing the gender of date palms is essential for agriculturalists aiming to produce dates. High-Resolution Melting (HRM) analysis is a powerful molecular technique for identifying species, cultivars, and gender of living organisms. Therefore, this study aims to use the HRM analysis for sex discrimination of the date palm cultivar Deglet Nour. The research was conducted in two main phases, including (i) collecting nucleotide sequences from the 12th chromosome, specifically focusing on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and gene regions that could serve as markers for gender identification; and (ii) performing both in silico and in vitro HRM analyses to accurately determine the gender of the date palms. Gender determination was based on differences in melting curve profiles and melting temperatures (Tm) between male and female samples. Among the primers tested, the TIF2 primer (targeting a gene region) emerged as the most effective for distinguishing gender. The melting curves generated by TIF2 primers were distinctly different for male and female trees, and their melting temperatures varied accordingly. These findings demonstrate that HRM analysis coupled with TIF2 primers is a powerful molecular technique for sex discrimination of the date palm cultivar Deglet Nour.