Genotypic and genetic diversity of Maâmora’s cork oak forest using simple sequence repeats (SSR) and inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR) markers for conservation

Maâmora is a cork oak forest in Morocco known for its production of sweet acorns. Genetic diversity and relationships were evaluated in 240 individuals from five Cantons. The nine inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) primers used in this study generated 368 polymorphic fragments and showed 100% polymorphism. A moderate level of genetic diversity (I = 0.28, He = 0.173) was observed. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that the highest level of diversity occurred within the populations (75%). A genetic structure was obtained using unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) analyses. 39 alleles were generated with a mean of 557 alleles per locus using seven simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers to establish DNA-fingerprinting for genotyping of 47 “Plus’’ tree systematically characterized. The analysis of diversity revealed significant polymorphism (94%) and allelic richness with high observed heterozygosity, which was confirmed by the negative value of Fis (− 0319). Nm is equal to 10.23, and Gst and Fst are equal to 0.022 and 0.052, respectively, revealing low inter-population variability. Genetic typing of the entire collection of “Plus” trees has identify 47 different genotypes. Eight unique alleles and 16 genotypes with specific markers were identified in this study. These results could be used to select the genotypes of interest for the multiplication of seedlings for reforestation and breeding programs.