Comparative Analysis of Chloroplast Genome (rbcL Sequences) in Ten Date Palm Cultivars Propagated via Vegetative and Tissue Culture

The date palm Phoenix dactylifera L. is recognized as a vitally important fruit crop. It is cornerstone of Middle Eastern agriculture, the date palm. Despite its economic importance, there is limited published genetic information on the plastid genomes of date palm. This study addresses a knowledge gap by investigating the chloroplast (cp) genomes of ten date palm cultivars that are economically important but haven't had their genomes studied before. These cultivars, propagated vegetatively and through tissue culture, were sequenced. The data annotation revealed similar gene annotations to those of other the palm family (Arecaceae), and the genome sizes of the tissue-cultured cultivars including Barhi (156.445 bp), Sag'ai (156.700 bp), Khalas (156.500 bp), Zamli (156.386 bp) and Maghrabi(156.386 bp) (. In addition, the genome sizes of the vegetatively propagated cultivars including Barhi (156.192 bp), Hassawi (156.2018 bp), Berim (156.523 bp), Dairi (156.129 bp) and Shakar (156.517 bp). Structurally, the phylogenetic analysis based on the complete chloroplast genomes showed a consistent phylogenetic grouping among all cultivars with a similarity of 97.8% compared to global cultivars. The current study presents a comparative analysis of the chloroplast genome by registering sequences for the rbcL gene with the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). The results are vital for expanding research into population genetics and the molecular biology of date palm cultivars.