an evaluation of pomological , morphological and genetic characteristics of some cultivars and genotypes of iranian apricots

apricot ( armeniaca vulgaris l.) is a popular and an economically profitable fruit of the temperate zone. various apricot genotypes grow in different areas in iran. the genetic diversity of 30 cultivars and genotypes of iranian apricot and as well, of two foreign cultivars (as control) was studied through morphological attributes and rapd markers. in a first experiment, 21 quantitative and qualitative characteristics regarding the fruits, leaves, trees as well as flowers were evaluated. results of simple correlation analysis revealed the existence of significant, positive vs. negative correlations among some important traits. in a second experiment rapd markers, through an application of  35 decamer primers, were used for genetic diversity analysis of the apricot cultivars. bands of acceptable resolution and high repeatability were picked out to be used in calculations. a cophenetic coefficient of r=0.79 was found out between similarity matrices. grouping of cultivars through cluster analysis was highly varied.  the study  demonstrated rapd markers as a useful technique for studying the genetic diversity as regards apricot cultivars and genotypes. as a whole, the results indicated that there exists a high level of polymorphism  among cultivars and genotypes in iranian apricot indicating that iran could be one of the main origins of diversity of the apricot throughout  the world.