Genetic relationships among some hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) species and genotypes.

The genus Crataegus is well distributed in Turkey as a wild plant, with numerous, inherently variable species and genotypes. RAPD markers were used to study 17 hawthorn genotypes belonging to Crataegus monogyna ssp. monogyna Jacq (2 genotypes), C. monogyna ssp. azarella Jacq (1), Crataegus pontica K.Koch (3), Crataegus orientalis var. orientalis Pallas Ex Bieb (3), Crataegus pseudoheterophylla Pojark (1), Crataegus aronia var. dentata Browicz (1), C. aronia var. aronia Browicz (4), and Crateagus x bornmuelleri Zabel (2). The 10 RAPD primers produced 72 polymorphic bands (88% polymorphism). A dendrogram based on Jaccard's index included four major groups and one outgroup according to taxa. The lowest genetic variability was observed within C. aronia var. aronia genotypes. The study demonstrated that RAPD analysis is efficient for genotyping wild-grown hawthorns.