An-Najah Staff

Several thymes species were grown in Palestine and have socio-economical values. Traditionally, morphological features are used for their taxonomy and discrimination. However, these methods fail to pro-vide an accurate for discrimination and authentication, suggesting the use of other method inevitable. In this study, RAPD method was used for genotypes identification and characterization of five most so-cio-economical Palestinian thymes: Thymus syriacus, Thymus fruticosus, Thymus incanus, Thymus majora-na, and Thymus capitatus. Eight out of ten decamer primers were tested for their ability to generate poly-morphism from selected thyme species using RAPD-PCR, and the obtained data were analyzed. The primers (OPD-19, OPH-02 and OPAN-08) were generated 78.6% average polymorphism across five studied Thyme species. Pairwise similarity analysis revealed banding patterns between the studied plant species ranged from 0.18 to 0.67. By this study, genetic diversities of studied five Palestinian Thyme species were ascer-tained successfully using RAPD markers, concluding that it could be useful tools for identifying Thymes spe-cies in any putative breeding programs that will be carried in the country.

ABSTRACT. Until now, neither phenotypic nor molecular approaches have been used to characterize the landraces of Palestine faba beans (Vicia faba). We used PCR-based RAPD markers to determine the genetic diversity and relatedness among 26 Palestinian faba bean landraces (traditional farmers’ varieties) from 8 localities in the West Bank, Palestine. In tests with 37 primers, 14 generated no polymorphic bands, 12 exhibited weak and unclear products, and 11 primers produced good amplification products with high intensity and pattern stability. Ninety-four DNA fragments (loci) were detected, with an average of 8.54 loci per primer and size ranging from 160 to 1370 bp. A minimum of 4 and a maximum of 14 DNA fragments were obtained using (OPA-05 and OPA-09) and (BC-261) primers, respectively. The maximum percentage of polymorphic markers was 71.4 (BC-298) and the minimum was 50.0 (OPA-05, -09, -16). The 11 primers exhibited  relatively high collective resolving power (Rp) values of 26.316, and  varied from 0.154 for the OPA-09 primer to 5.236 for the BC-261,
with an overall mean of 2.392. The primers BC-261, -322, and -298  were found to be the most useful RAPD primers to assess the genetic  diversity of Palestinian faba beans, as they revealed relatively high
Rp rates (5.236, 3.618, and 3.150, respectively). Based on the Jaccard  coefficient, the genetic distance ranged from 0.358 to 0.069, with a  mean of 0.213. We conclude that the RAPD technique is useful for  determining genetic diversity and for developing suitable fingerprints
for faba bean landraces grown in Palestine.

Until now, neither phenotypic nor molecular approaches have been used to characterize the landraces of Palestine faba beans (Vicia faba). We used PCR-based RAPD markers to determine the genetic diversity and relatedness among 26 Palestinian faba bean landraces (traditional farmers’ varieties) from 8 localities in the West Bank, Palestine. In tests with 37 primers, 14 generated no polymorphic bands, 12 exhibited weak and unclear products, and 11 primers produced good amplification products with high intensity and pattern stability. Ninety-four DNA fragments (loci) were detected, with an average of 8.54 loci per primer and size ranging from 160 to 1370 bp. A minimum of 4 and a maximum of 14 DNA fragments were obtained using (OPA-05 and OPA-09) and (BC-261) primers, respectively. The maximum percentage of polymorphic markers was 71.4 (BC-298) and the minimum was 50.0 (OPA-05, -09, -16). The 11 primers exhibited relatively high collective resolving power (Rp) values of 26.316, and varied from 0.154 for the OPA-09 primer to 5.236 for the BC-261, with an overall mean of 2.392. The primers BC-261, -322, and -298 were found to be the most useful RAPD primers to assess the genetic diversity of Palestinian faba beans, as they revealed relatively high Rp rates (5.236, 3.618, and 3.150, respectively). Based on the Jaccard coefficient, the genetic distance ranged from 0.358 to 0.069, with a mean of 0.213. We conclude that the RAPD technique is useful for determining genetic diversity and for developing suitable fingerprints for faba bean landraces grown in Palestine.