Protein Pattern of Phoenix dactylifera Seeded Strains Grown in Basrah Region Using Cluster and Principal Component Analysis: Brief Overview

The present study was carried out on 17 seeded strains of date palm “Phoenix dactylifera L.” grown in
Basrah region to investigate variations in protein pattern of leaflets and fruits among these strains.
Cluster and principal component analysis were used to identify the degree of similarity and differences
between date palm strains. The leaflet and fruit protein pattern on SDS-PAGE showed differences in
band number, location, thickness and density leading to variations in protein quantity and quality
among the studied strains. Cluster analysis data showed a high degree of similarity between leaflet
and fruit samples of these strains recording an average similarity value of 0.76 and 0.67 for leaflet and
fruit samples respectively. Cluster analysis also revealed that all strains occupied two main groups
and then distributed into two subgroups under each main group. The principal component analysis
showed that protein banding characters for leaflets and fruits could be used for identification of date
palm seeded strains.