Assessing Iranian pomegranate biodiversity and identification of mislabeling genotypes in Saveh pomegranate collection using molecular markers

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is one of the oldest fruit trees knownto human (4000 and 3000 BC). The origin of pomegranate is consideredto be in central Asia especially the Transcaucasia- Caspian region in Iran(Harlan, 1994), from where it has spread to the rest of the world (Levin,1994; Verma et al., 2010). Iran has more than 800 genotypes collected fromdifferent regions of the country and maintained in Yazd and Saveh germplasmcenters (Behzadi-Shahrebabaki, 1998). A high genetic diversity is expectedto occur in pomegranate genotypes cultivated in Iran due to long historicalcultivation and various environmental conditions in which these cultivars aregrowing. Mislabeling, homonyme and synonyme are problems associatedwith pomegranate collections due to plant materials exchange betweendifferent pomegranate germplasm centers in Iran. In the present study, 16pomegranate cultivars were studied with regard to molecular/genetic diversityand identification of mislabeling or synonyme genotypes by using RAPD andISSR molecular markers.