The amount of research on the healthy benefits of fruits has increased in recent years. The objective of the present study is to determine the antioxidant activity and total phenolic content of 18 selected persimmon genotypes. The genotypes were established in a collection parcel at the Black Sea Agricultural Research Institute, Samsun, Turkey. The beta-carotene bleaching method was used to determine antioxidant activity and the Folin-Ciocalteau colorimetric method to determine total phenolics in persimmon fruits. The total phenolic content in fruits, estimated as gallic acid equivalents, ranged from 15.7 mg/g dry weight for 08 TH 12 to 42.3 mg/g gallic acid equivalent for the 08 TH 10 genotype. The highest antioxidant activity was observed in 08 TH 10 as 91.6%, while the lowest was in 14 TH 01 (51.7%), respectively. The antioxidant activities of butylated hydroxyanisole and butylated hydroxytoluene were 93.4% and 91.8%, respectively. A low correlation (R = 0.711) was obtained between total phenolic content and antioxidant activity among genotypes. The results indicate that antioxidant activity in persimmon fruits is strongly affected by genotype.

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ABSTRACT. Ten SSR loci, previously developed for Prunus, were analyzed to examine genetic relationships among 23 rootstock candidates for sweet and sour cherries, of the species P. avium, P. cerasus, P. mahaleb, and P. angustifolia. Five genotypes of P. laurocerasus, not used as rootstock, were included in the molecular analysis. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 8 to 12, with a mean of 9, while the number of microsatellite genotypes varied from 8 to 17, indicating that the SSRs were highly informative. The degree of heterozygosity (0.61) was high. Clustering analysis resulted in two main clusters. The first cluster was divided into two subclusters; the first subcluster consisted of P. avium and P. cerasus, and the second subcluster consisted of P. laurocerasus. The second cluster was divided into two subclusters. The first subcluster consisted of P. mahaleb genotypes and the second consisted of P. angustifolia genotypes. The reference rootstocks also clustered with their associated botanical species. Unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic mean analysis demonstrated that P. laurocerasus 2157 ©FUNPEC-RP www.funpecrp.com.br Genetics and Molecular Research 9 (4): 2156-2165 (2010) SSR analysis in Prunus rootstocks genotypes had less genetic variation and that P. avium genotypes were more closely related to P. cerasus. The SSR-based phylogeny was generally consistent with Prunus taxonomy information, suggesting the applicability of SSR analysis for genotyping and phylogenetic studies in the genus Prunus.

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ABSTRACT. The fig tree (Ficus caricaL.) is of significant socioeconomic importance in Turkey, with 25% of the world's fig production. Genetic variation and relationships among 14 wild-grown figs sampled from Coruh Valley in Turkey were characterized by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Ninety-eight DNA fragments were scored after amplification of DNA samples with 13 random primers; 70% of the scored bands were polymorphic. Genetic distances between the fig genotypes ranged from 0.21 to 0.62. Genotypes 08-ART-02 and 08-ART-06 were found to be the most closely related, whereas 08-ART-09 and 08-ART-10 were the most distant. The 14 wild-grown genotypes were grouped into six main clusters and one outgroup. We conclude that RAPD analysis is efficient for genotyping wild-grown fig genotypes.

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ABSTRACT. Two local (Vezir-1 and Vezir-2) and two standard (M9 and MM106) clonal apple rootstocks were compared using both morphological and molecular markers. International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants criteria were used for morphological evaluation, which did not clearly separate these rootstocks. We tested 47 random decamer primers for random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis; 15 of them gave reproducible polymorphic patterns, yielding 109 bands, which showed 78% polymorphism. Based on a dendrogram obtained by unweighted pair group method using arithmetic average analysis, three clusters were obtained. The highest genetic similarities were found between M9 and Vezir-2 (0.670). The random amplified polymorphic DNA markers proved to be more efficient than the standard morphological markers for the identification of rootstocks.

In this study, we examined the seeds of 7 Dactylorhiza taxa (D. nieschalkiorum and D. osmanica var. osmanica) of which 2 are endemic to Turkey (D. euxina var. euxina, D. iberica, D. romana subsp. romana, D. saccifera, D. urvilleana) in terms of morphological, micromorphological and morphometric properties. We analyzed the seeds using standard procedures of light microscopy and electron microscopy (SEM). The seeds collected from different localities were examined in terms of 22 characters, such as seed shape and size, length/width ratio, embryo volume, seed/embryo volume, percent air space, position of the embryo and seed surface features were analyzed. Furthermore, the morphometric measurements showed that some diagnostic characters could be important for these taxa. As a result of the study, the dendograms were formed based on the numerical analysis and important differences were determined in terms of examined characters among taxa. The characters of the seeds of genus Dactylorhiza are characteristic even in species level. The seed properties identified would help researchers on genus-related problems.