Abstract
The grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is a valuable commercial fruit crop in Taif Province, Saudi Arabia. Three different molecular markers, start codon targeted (SCoT), conserved DNA-derived polymorphism (CDDP) and inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR), were used. The aim of this analysis was to examine the genetic relationships between 29 individual grape samples collected from three different locations in the Taif governorate. Firstly, all individual samples were confirmed to be Vitis vinifera L. by sequencing the chloroplast barcoding gene rbcL. Six primers of each molecular marker were used and successfully amplified 74, 70 and 101 loci for ISSR, SCot and CDDP markers, correspondingly, of which all were polymorphic. The acquired average polymorphism information content was for ISSR, 0.16; for SCoT, 0.48; and for CDDP, 0.33, while average band informativeness was: ISSR, 12.2; SCoT, 34.1; and CDDP, 33.8. The results indicated that all used techniques were effectual for assessing the genetic diversity. The cluster partitions in the neighbour-joining dendrogram based on ISSR, SCoT and CDDP markers were semi-similar and grouped all individuals into two major groups. However, the dendrogram generated based on SCoT and CDDP can separate sample R12 into a third major group. Thus, these results indicate that SCoT and CDDP markers could be utilized as a consistent technique for the evaluation of genetic diversity and correlations among grapevine species, and DNA barcoding is necessary for authentication.