The study aimed to evaluate the genetic variability of 12 plum (Prunus domestica L.) Romanian cultivars developed within the breeding program of the Fruit Research and Development Station Bistrița. The biological material consisted of the cultivars: ‘Delia’, ‘Iulia’, ‘Ivan’, ‘Jubileu 50’, ‘Dani’, ‘Doina’, ‘Geta’, ‘Matilda’, ‘Elena’, ‘Romaner’, ‘Zamfira’, and ‘Zandra’. Genomic DNA was extracted from young leaves using the Omega BIO-TEK kit, and the target fragments were amplified by PCR. Genetic analysis was performed using the CAPS marker system with three primer pairs (PR56, PR69, and PR72). The PCR products generated with PR69 were digested with the restriction enzymes HpyF3, while those obtained with PR72 were digested with HincII. The resulting molecular profiles and the genetic similarity was analyzed using NTSYSpc software version 2.10e. The analysis of genetic diversity revealed a moderate level of polymorphism, indicating a medium degree of genetic variability among the analyzed cultivars. The PR69 marker, digested with HpyF3, generated identical allelotypes across all 12 cultivars, characterized by two common restriction sites, suggesting a high level of genetic similarity at this locus. In contrast, the PR72 marker displayed polymorphism in only two cultivars, ‘Jubileu 50’ and ‘Zamfira’, indicating limited variability within the studied germplasm. The highest level of polymorphism was recorded for the PR56 marker, which showed the greatest capacity for genetic discrimination among the cultivars, confirming its usefulness in evaluating genetic diversity and for supporting plum breeding and cultivar identification programs.
GUZU et al. (2026) studied this question.