RAPD technique was used to detect genetic diversity of 28 safflower genotypes including Iranian landraces, wild and several exotic genotypes. One hundred random decamer primers were used in amplification reactions. Eleven of the primers produced polymorphic bands. In general, 283 RAPD markers were found. Amplified DNA fragments ranged in size from 300 to 2400 bp. Jaccard's similarity coefficient and Euclidean distances were used to produce a cluster diagram by means of the unweighted pair - group method with arithmetic averages (UPGl\1A). Cluster analysis divided the
genotypes into 5 clusters, using Jaccard's similarity cofficient. Cluster consisted of
exotic genotypes, Iranian landraces, wild genotypes:, winter and Sarband types. To confirm the above phenogram, cluster analysis was used based on Euclidean distance method and the UPGMA algorithm. It was found that both techniques produced similar results. In both cases, no relationship was found between genetic and geographical diversity. The clusters based on RAPD markers correlate fairly well with classification scheme based on morphological traits. In clusters, produced by both techniques, some landraces and exotic genotypes are classified together within one group. The approach
used holds promise for the classification of safflower germplasm, identification of safflower landraces and its wild relatives as well as application of molecular markers in safflower breeding programs. It is suggested that RAPD marker is useful to study DNA polymorphism in safflower.
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