DETERMINATION OF MOLECULAR MARKERS BY RAPD TECHNIQUE ASSOCIATED WITH FOUR MELON GENOTYPES UNDER 50% IRRIGATION CONDITIONS

Genetic diversity is a practical and attractive method for finding drought tolerant genotypes. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation is to find single RAPD markers linked to studied traits as indicator of drought stress tolerant. Seven random primers were selected as molecular marker for drought stress tolerance among four melon genotypes. According to results, 69 polymorphic bands were obtained out of 72 bands. Jaccard coefficient was calculated to study genetic diversity and relationship among genotypes using unweighted pairwise group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA). The range of genetic similarity ranged from 0.167 to 0.324. In addition, two separated groups with two genotypes in each were identified by phylogenetic tree in form of topology. In the context of the analysis of single marker, 14 RAPD markers were associated with the studied morphological traits, which make them valuable source for genetic expression in plant breeding programs.