Abstract
Juniperus L. (Cupressaceae), an aromatic evergreen plant, comprises of up to 67 species spread around the world. Here, two species naturally distributed in Saudi Arabia were investigated genetically for identification using molecular markers. Also, SDS-protein profile and exomorphic seed characters by LM, SEM and AFM were examined. Three samples from each species were gathered from different areas of Taif governorate especially from the center of the western slopes of the mountains. Genetic distances were assessed based on total 527 RAPD bands to build a dendrogram tree by means of unweighted pair group method of arithmetic means and clustered in two main groups. It was found that in every group 90.55-97.98 % similarities and between the two main groups average 62.92 % similarity. Genetic distance values ranged from average 0.93 within a group to 0.63 between main groups Juniperus procera and Juniperus phoenicea along these results on the protein level all distinguishable bands were considered as species-specific bands and could be used as biochemical marker for each species, besides exomorphic seed characters of the studied Juniperus spp., depending on LM, SEM and AFM results seeds weight were none significantly among the examined characters, but general shape varies in Juniperus spp., spear in J.procera and elliptic in J. phoenicea., number of seeds in the fruit, seed color, seed surface, seed hilum, seed shape and seed size average varies significantly among the examined taxa. It looks that this research is the first complete morphologically and molecular studied on Saudi Arabian Juniperus species.