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