Revealing genetic diversity of tulips in Turkey with inter-simple sequence repeat markers

In order to reveal the genetic variation within the genus Tulipa, 57 accessions belonging to 19 taxa that are native to Turkey were examined in our study. With inter-simple sequence repeat markers, a matrix of 4332 data was obtained with 76 polymorphic bands. The unweighted pair group average (UPGMA) clustering algorithm was used for the Cluster Analysis. According to dendrogram, two main groups were formed: First group comprised of Tulipa sylvestris subsp. australis, Tulipa sprengeri, Tulipa humilis, Tulipa koyuncui, Tulipa undulatifolia var. undulatifolia and Tulipa julia accessions. Except Tulipa undulatifolia var. undulatifolia and Tulipa julia members of the first group belong to subgenus Eriostemones . In the subclades of the second main group the members of subgenus Tulipa and the members of subgenus Eriostemones were grouped in accordance to their subgenera. Our study is the first attempt to reveal the genetic diversity with all geographical distribution areas of Tulipa in Turkey. We think that the data given here will be useful for both plant taxonomists and ornamental plant breeders for future research.