IDENTIFICATION AND GENETIC SIMILARITY ANALYSIS OF DATE PALM (Phoenix dactylifera L.) COLLECTED FROM DIFFERENT REGIONS IN SIWA OASIS USING MORPHOLOGICALLY TRAITS AND MOLECULAR MARKERS.

This study, about RPW and date palms, is under the scope of date palm bioecology and nutrition (nutritional ecology) which includes the integration of several areas of research such as date palm biochemistry, genetics, and RPW infestation behavior through various date palm cultivars. Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.; Arecaceae) production is under threat from the red palm weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Oliver. A better understanding of genetic diversity within date palm cultivars can be useful for its implementation within the insect IPM program in the future. Three indices, namely simple-sequence repeats (SSR) markers to elucidate genetic diversity, chemical components, and a natural infestation index of RPW, were used to evaluate the resistant or susceptible date palm cultivars in Qassim. Based on a field survey of RPW infestation within 79 date palm farms involving 11 cultivars at Qassim, the sensitivity and resistance cultivars were determined. The resistant date palm cultivars were Nabtat Ali, Shakrah, red Sukary, and um Kobar which had the lowest degree of RPW abundance %. Values of the essential minerals, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and calcium within the date palm cultivars were also estimated. RPW abundance % was negatively correlated with the calcium content of date palm cultivars. The principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the calcium content and RPW abundance % were highly affected by the cultivars. SSR markers of the date palm cluster tree divided genotypes into two main groups at similarity coefficients between 0.56 and 0.91. The 1st group included; Nabtet Ali, Red Sukary, Um Kobar, and Shakrah with similarity coefficients between 0.56, this group was the most resistant cultivars. Therefore, SSR markers were able to characterize and resolve genetic diversity in date palm cultivars for RPW resistance. When SSR markers coupled with higher calcium (Ca) content can efficiently replace indices in characterizing resistant date-palm genotypes with a high confidence level. Integration between date palm genetic diversity, chemical structures, and RPW infestations rates promoted the understanding of the interplay between the diversity of RPW management (short-time scale), and the resistance genes, plant nutrition, and dynamics of the diversity of RPW through domestication and diversification (long-timescale). Therefore, our results may lead to a change in RPW control strategies by switching to using safe alternative pesticide control methods (Resistant cultivars of date palm), which are underestimated and may reveal the impact of low-cost, but highly effective agricultural practices in the field of date production in the world. Understanding the genetic structure and calcium content of date palm cultivars mechanisms could help to predict date palm resistance against RPW populations in the new IPM strategy in RPW control.

Background: Microsatellite (Simple Sequence Repeat) markers are very powerful tool especially in plant genome analysis because they are locus-specific, co-dominant, highly polymorphic and highly reproducible. However, in date palm only few microsatellite markers are available worldwide so far. Fortunately, more than 1000 new microsatellite markers were developed recently by a research group in ICARDA based on the date palm genome sequence generated by next generation DNA sequencing that is published by Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. Objectives: The aim of this work was to analyze the genetic diversity among most common cultivars of Qatari date palm and the genetic variation within each cultivar using simple sequence repeat markers. In addition, the study aimed to develop a detailed understanding of the genetic and molecular relationships of Qatari date Palm cultivars Methods: A new set of hundred genomic DNA microsatellite primer pairs was used to assess the genetic diversity of the 47 collected Date palm samples that are representing 17 genotypes from two genetic resource fields (Rodat Alfaras Germplasm field and Qatar University Experimental Farm). Bands were precisely measured by Gel documentation System software and scored for each genotype. Each reproducible polymorphic DNA band at particular position on the gel was treated as a separate character and scored as present (1) or absent (0) to generate a binary data matrix. Results: The results revealed that out of 100 SSR primers 27 primers showed exact expected size band and 62 primers showed clear polymorphism. In addition 11 over 100 did not show clear bands.in the whole set of 47 Date palm samples. Total of 538 bands were generated using the 100 SSR primers for the 15 Date palm date palm cultivars. On average, each primer generated 5 bands per genotype. The number of amplified bands varied from cultivar to cultivar and primer to primer. Band pattern data was converted into a binary data in excel work sheet and was analyzed using Power-maker program to calculate similarity coefficient values according to Jaccard (1908). A similarity matrix between Qatari date palm cultivars (Figure 5) showed an average genetic distance range from 0.000 to 0.4769. The cultivars studied here were highly divergent at the DNA level. The highest genetic distance value was observed between Lulu -3 and both Khadrawy-2and Khadrawy-3 cultivars (0.4769) which seem to be the most far three varieties.. Conclusions: In this study, SSR markers have been used to assess the molecular characterization and the phylogenic relationships of Qatari date palm cultivars. Our results provide evidence of a genetic diversity among the studied Qatari date genotypes and the ability of SSR markers to detect the genetic diversity in date palm. We may conclude that all date-palm genotypes are interrelated in spite of their agronomic divergence.

Date palm is the most important fruit tree in Qatar. Recently developed techniques, based on DNA markers, offer new tools for genetic analysis. The objectives of the present study are to analyze the genetic diversity among 15 different cultivars of date palm at the experimental farm of Qatar University using ISSR and SSR markers, and find out the genetic similarity and/or diversity among the well known date palm cultivars in the state of Qatar. DNAs were extracted from the young fresh leaves. A total of 34 primers of simple sequence repeat (SSR) and inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) were tested for their ability to generate banding patterns in 15 date palm genotypes. However, 10 SSR and 18 ISSR primers successfully produced clear bands in all of the studied genotypes. Similarity coefficient matrix was computed to cluster the data and to draw precise relationships among the fifteen studied Qatari date palm genotypes. All date palm genotypes are inter-related in spite of their agronomic divergence. Genetic similarities and dendrogram could re-group the Qatari date palm cultivars in a way that one cultivar (Abu Main) was excluded from the group due to its dissimilarity with the other cultivars. Two cultivars (Barhee and Sultana) were much closer and could be considered as coming from one origin. The polymorphic patterns obtained suggested that the ISSR and SSR procedures constitute alternative approaches that are suitable to examine the date palm's genetic diversity at the DNA level.

Date Palm Byproducts for Green Fuels and Bioenergy Production

Sex determination of date palm seedlings is the challengeable effort for breeders. Different studies based on molecular markers and genome sequencing have provided some insight in to the genetic regions related to sex determination in date palms in general. But due to differences in cultivar population structure and also cost of whole genome sequencing, we may need a more suitable approach in developing countries for this task. Therefore, we suggest using a combination of different available molecular markers and a computational approach to identify the genetic regions involved in sex differentiation in date palm cultivars. In this study we used twenty-three cultivars including 7 male and 16 female cultivars that were examined by 30 different dominant and co-dominant molecular markers which deal with different genomic regions. Grouping of the tree samples based on 178 loci resulted in genetic differentiation of the studied male and female palm trees. Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) bi-plot also showed genetic difference within male and female trees. Heatmap plot specified those markers which differentiate date palm trees. SSR (simple sequence repeats) and IRAP (inter retrotransposon amplified polymorphism) markers provided sex linked markers for male cultivars. In present study, we introduced sex specific alleles for Iranian male date palm cultivars as a fast track in seedlings. Different association studies performed identified the candidate genetic regions which are significantly associated with sex differentiation in date palm cultivars.

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is considered one of the great socioeconomic resources in the Middle East and the Arab regions. The tree has been and still is at the center of the comprehensive agricultural development. The number of known date palm cultivars, distributed worldwide, is approximately 3000. The success of genetic diversity conservation or any breeding program depends on an understanding of the amount and distribution of the genetic variation already in existence in the genetic pool. Development of suitable DNA molecular markers for this tree may allow researchers to estimate genetic diversity, which will ultimately lead to the genetic conservation of date palm. Simple sequence repeats (SSRs) are DNA strands, consisting of tandemly repeated mono-, di-, tri-, tetra-, or penta-nucleotide units that are arranged throughout the genomes of most eukaryotic species. Microsatellite markers, developed from genomic libraries, belong to either the transcribed region or the non-transcribed region of the genome, and there is rarely available information on their functions. Microsatellite sequences are especially suited to distinguish closely related genotypes due to a high degree of variability making them ideally suitable in population studies and the identification of closely related cultivars. This chapter focuses on the methods employed to characterize date palm genotypes using SSR markers.

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera), is the most important crop in Saudi Arabia which accounts for nearly 15% of the global production of dates. Shriveling of dates as characterized by drying, wrinkling and under development of mature (Tamar) dates causes substantial reduction in yield. Trials were carried out during 2007 and 2008 to assess the effect of bunch removal (main treatment) and fruit thinning (sub treatment) on shrivelling of matures dates in Ghar, a popular date palm cultivar in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Data on the number of shriveled fruits per palm was subjected to analysis of variance using the two-factor factorial experimental design. Results revealed significant differences among treatments. With regard to the main treatment of bunch removal least number of shrivelled dates (153) was recorded when 33.00% of the bunches were removed, while for the sub-treatment of fruit thinning least shriveling (148) was recorded with 25% strand thinning. With regard to the overall treatment mean (interaction), 33.00% bunch removal coupled with 25% strand thinning recorded the least number of shrivelled dates of 124 which was statistically at par with 25% bunch removal coupled with 25% strand cutting. INTRODUCTION Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.), is the most important crop in Saudi Arabia and throughout the Middle East (Al-Hamdan, 2009). It provides a nutritious source of food, and fiber for shelter, clothing and furniture. With 25 million palms the Kingdom produces nearly a million tones of dates accounting for nearly 15% of the global production (http://www. en.wikipedia.org) . Shriveling of dates as characterized by wrinkling, drying and under development of mature dates (Tamar) leads to substantial loss in yield. However, there are no reports on the extent of shrivelling and also the causes of shriveling of dates in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Fruit load on the date palm has been attributed as one of the possible cause of shriveling of dates (Tahaer, 1983). The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a rich diversity of date palm cultivars. Among these the cultivar Ghar yields mature fruits early in the fruiting season during the month of June and is preferred by consumers in the two major date palm oasis of Al Qatif and Al Hassa in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom, where it constitutes 3-6% of the cultivated date palm cultivars(Fathi,1979). Due to the heavy bearing tendency in Ghar of up to19 bunches , each with an average of 3000 fruits , the cultivar is prone to breaking of bunches and also shrivelling of dates within healthy bunches resulting in substantial loss in yield ( Tahaer,1983) . This study was carried out in Al Qatif during 2007 and 2008 to assess the effect of bunch removal and fruit thinning on the extent of fruit shrivelling in the popular date palm cultivar Ghar of Saudi Arabia. MATERIALS AND METHODS Trials were carried out at the research farm of the National Date Palm Research Centre (NDPRC), Al Qatif, Ministry of Agriculture, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during 2007 and 2008, to ascertain the effect of bunch removal (main treatment) and fruit thinning (strand thinning) on shrivelling of date palm fruit in the popular date palm cultivar Ghar in the date palm oasis of Al Qatif in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. During both 2007 and 2008, 12 palms of the cultivar Ghar were selected for the trials. The experimental palms were vigorous, healthy ,20 years old and approximately 7m tall cultivated at a spacing of 10x10m ( 100 palms/ha). The date palm palms selected for the trial received standard agronomic practices (Ben Abdallah, 1990) with respect to irrigation, fertilizer application and plant protection routinely adopted at the farm of NDPRC at Al Qatif. The trials were conducted through a two-factor factorial completely randomized block design, where bunch removal constituted the main treatment and thinning of date fruit strands from the remaining bunches was the sub treatment. Removal of bunches was adopted at four levels viz. 20,25,33 and 40 per cent bunch removal while the three fruit thinning treatments were i) no thinning( control), ii) 25% strand removal from the bunch and iii) 25% cutting of the fruit strands from the bunch. In all there were 12 treatments each replicated thrice. Treatment codes for bunch removal was indicated on the trunk of each experimental palm, while the sub treatment of fruit thinning within the bunches retained was identified through a distinct colour code. Treatment details are presented in Table 1. Table 1. Treatment details pertaining to bunch removal and fruit thinning. Main Treatment : Bunch removal Sub Treatment : Fruit Thinning Code Treatment Code Treatment A 20% bunch removal a No fruit thinning B 25% bunch removal b 25% strand removal C 33% bunch removal c 25% strand cutting D 40% bunch removal Bunch removal and fruit thinning were carried out eight weeks after pollination to coincide with the initiation of fruit setting. At fruit maturity (Tamar stage) an estimate on the number of fruits per bunch was made by weighing each bunch and counting the number of fruits in one kilogram of mature dates. Further observations on the number of dry, wrinkled and under developed fruits was recorded per bunch to estimate the number of shriveled fruits. Data on the number shriveled dates per palm was subjected to ANOVA using the Web Based Agricultural Statistical Package WASP 1.0 consulted at http//www.icargoa.res.in. Results obtained are presented and discussed below. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Results presented in figures 1, 2 and 3 and photos 1 and 2 indicate significant differences (p=0.05) among the treatment means of the main (bunch removal), sub (fruit thinning) as well as for the interaction means. With regard to the main treatment of bunch removal it is seen from Figure1 that 33% bunch removal recorded the least number of shriveled dates per palm(153) and was statistically at par with 25 (174)and 40 %(160) bunch removal but significantly(p=0.05) different from 20%(206) bunch removal. In the sub treatment of fruit thinning the least number of shrivelled fruits per palm(148) was recorded at 25% strand removal which was at par with 25% strand cutting(151), both of which were significantly different from the control treatment were no fruit thinning was done where 221 shrivelled fruits per palm was recorded. With regard to the interaction effects it is seen from figure 3, that the treatment Cb of 33% bunch removal coupled with 25% strand thinning resulted in the least number of shriveled fruits (124) and was statistically at par (p=0.05) with the treatment Bc of 25% bunch removal coupled with 25% strand cutting which recorded 144 shriveled fruits per palm. In all the interaction treatment means, the highest number of shrivelled dates were recorded when only bunch removal was done without any fruit thinning. This signifies the importance of combining both bunch removal with fruit thinning for the efficient management of shrivelling of dates in the cultivar Ghar. This finding is in agreement with Nixon, Carpenter, 1978 who reported that bunch removal and fruit thinning when done individually does not help to reduce shrivelling of dates. Tahaer, 1983 reported increased shriveling of dates due to too many fruits per bunch. Our findings signify the importance of fruit thinning in reducing shriveling of dates and are in agreement with the findings of Tahaer, 1983 who suggested that too many fruits at high temperature during fruit maturity increases shriveling of dates.

BackgroundDate palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is an important tree in the Middle East and North Africa due to the nutritional value of its fruit. Molecular Breeding would accelerate genetic improvement of fruit tree through marker assisted selection. However, the lack of molecular markers in date palm restricts the application of molecular breeding.ResultsIn this study, we analyzed 28,889 EST sequences from the date palm genome database to identify simple-sequence repeats (SSRs) and to develop gene-based markers, i.e. expressed sequence tag-SSRs (EST-SSRs). We identified 4,609 ESTs as containing SSRs, among which, trinucleotide motifs (69.7%) were the most common, followed by tetranucleotide (10.4%) and dinucleotide motifs (9.6%). The motif AG (85.7%) was most abundant in dinucleotides, while motifs AGG (26.8%), AAG (19.3%), and AGC (16.1%) were most common among trinucleotides. A total of 4,967 primer pairs were designed for EST-SSR markers from the computational data. In a follow up laboratory study, we tested a sample of 20 random selected primer pairs for amplification and polymorphism detection using genomic DNA from date palm cultivars. Nearly one-third of these primer pairs detected DNA polymorphism to differentiate the twelve date palm cultivars used. Functional categorization of EST sequences containing SSRs revealed that 3,108 (67.4%) of such ESTs had homology with known proteins.ConclusionDate palm EST sequences exhibits a good resource for developing gene-based markers. These genic markers identified in our study may provide a valuable genetic and genomic tool for further genetic research and varietal development in date palm, such as diversity study, QTL mapping, and molecular breeding.

Advancing date palm cultivation in the Arabian Peninsula and beyond: Addressing stress tolerance, genetic diversity, and sustainable practices

The total amount of water consumption needed to irrigate the cultivated lands in the Sultanate Oman is 1487 Mm3. There are 7.6 million date palm trees currently planted in the farms in Oman covering an area of 23241 hectares or 35% of total agricultural area in the Sultanate in addition to 0.9 million palm trees planted in homes or for landscaping in public parks and beside the roads. Hence, among all cultivated crops in Oman, date palms are the major water consuming plants. They consume 558 Mm3 that is 38% of total irrigation water and 31% of groundwater recharge that suffers an annual water deficit estimated at 316 Mm3. These findings framed the main objectives of this study: (1) to describe the current status of date palm tree cultivation in the Sultanate; (2) to suggest solutions to reduce high consumption of water while improve dates production; and (3) to explore how irrigation water can be saved through increasing water productivity through alternative date palm cultivation and irrigation practices. The water saving recommendation in this study was based on the collected from different sources in addition to the investigation on the water loss during irrigation practices. We found that it is possible to save a total of 396 Mm3 of irrigation water by for instance reducing the cultivation of low quality/value date palm varieties and switching to modern over traditional irrigation systems. It is also important to determine the quality and value of the date palm cultivars to be planted in the proposed reduced area which will then contribute to an increased financial return for the farmers and thus to the country through increasing the water productivity by 64% of these new plots.

Phoenix dactylifera L. has about 400 date palm cultivars in Iran with very confined information on their genetic structure and content. Up to now, our date palm cultivation has been based on traditional approached and therefore we need to move towards modern approaches of molecular breeding and biotechnology. The present study was performed on 113 date palm trees of 13 known cultivars, cultivated in different regions of Iran. We used SCoT molecular marker for our genetic investigation with the following aims: 1—Investigate genetic diversity both among and with date palm cultivars, 2—Identify genetic groups within these 13 cultivars, and 3—produce data on the genetic structure of date palm cultivars. The results obtained revealed a high within-population genetic variability. The studied cultivars differed genetically as evidenced by analysis of molecular variance and Fst values obtained in STRUCTURE analysis. Gene flow and genetic admixture were observed among date palm cultivars. No association occurred between geographical distance and genetic distance of date palm populations studied. The results indicated the efficiency of SCoT markers in genetic diversity analysis and genetic fingerprinting of date palms. Similarly, data obtained may be used in future breeding and hybridization programs of Iranian date palms.

Date palms are generally propagated by separating the offshoots produced by individual trees. This method maintains the genetic integrity of date palm cultivars. However, well known date palm cultivars that are grown in different environments show little differences in fruit morphology and quality such as color and sweetness. The objective of the present research project is to analyze the genetic diversity among most common cultivars of Qatari date palms as well as the genetic variation within each cultivar grown in different environments in Qatar. Samples of the five most common date palm cultivars in Qatar; Khalas, Sheshy, Rezezy, Barhee and Khanezy were collected at three locations with different environments Al-Shamal, Al-Khour and Al-Rayan, Qatar. For each cultivar, samples were collected from three trees that showed little variation in their fruit morphology and quality. Genetic similarity or diversity among and within these cultivars was then analyzed using Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) markers. A total of 18 ISSR single primers were used to amplify DNA bands using genomic DNA from the date palm samples. All of the primers used have amplified polymorphic bands in the studied cultivars either among the cultivars or within each cultivar in different cultivated environments. The results indicate the existence of genetic variations among the studied cultivars. Moreover, trees of the same cultivar that are grown in different environments show different DNA banding patterns explaining the variation in morphological and quality characters within each cultivar.

In order to determine the toxicity of four reasonable pesticides, including a defence against Batrachedra amydraula in field circumstances, a two-year study was conducted in 2017 and 2018. On Aseel cultivars that were fifteen to twenty years old, pesticides were used. The distances between tree-to-tree of date palms were kept at 22sq feet for the integrated pest management spray schedule. All five treatments were replicated three times at a fortnightly interval basis. After application of all insecticides, the result depicted that, (T1)= Lambdacyhalothrin, exhibited reduction % in both years as, (69.14±9.44%) and (60.52±8.59%), (T2)= Boxer, (44.63±8.18%) and (45.46±7.45%), (T3)= Spinosad, (48.66±8.81%) and (44.10±7.97%), (T4)= Deltamethrin, (72.85±9.04%) and (59.85±5.82%), according to prescribed as per doses on trunks, leaves, and bunches. Thus, the data was taken as pre-treatment and post-treatment after the 2 nd , 5 th , 7 th, and 10 th post-spray days. In all scheduled sprays, the Deltamethrin was found with a maximum reduction % against the lesser date moth and recommended for the abrupt population reduction of the destructive pest species.

The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a monocotyledoneus woody by Giza governorate that cultivate 0.525 millions tree. (Ministry of Agriculture, perennial tree belongs to the Arecaceae family, which comprises 200 genera and more than 2500 species (McCurrach, 2009). In the date palm, the dioecious 1960). Date-palm (2n=36), cultivated mainly in North Africa and Middle East, has major economic, social and environmental importance. Date-palms constitute the principal financial resource and food source of oasis growers, and it contributes to the development of subjacent cultures (alfalfa, fig trees, pepper, tomato, saffron, etc.). In Egypt, date palm trees are classified according to their fleshiness into three classes. The first class is the soft date such as Zaghloul, Samani, and Hayany. The second class is the semidry date such as Sewi, Aglany and Amry. The third class is the dry date like Sakoty and Malkaby. Sewi cultivar, a semi dry date palm, is considered one of the most important commodity items for export in Egypt. It is stored and processed throughout the year. The number of fruitful Sewi female palms in Egypt is 1.834 million. El-Wadi El-Gadid governorate cultivates the biggest number in Egypt, 0.661 million, followed mode (separate male and female individuals) and the late initial reproductive age (5-10 years) are major practical constraints for genetic improvement. Early selection on young seedlings could enhance breeding programmes and generate experimental male and female genetic stocks, but no easy robust cytogenetic protocol exists for sex determination in an immature date palm (Siljak-Yakovlev et al., 1996). Genotype identification and cultivar identification, based on morphological character of date palm, is an intricate empirical exercise (Al-Khalifha et al., 2011). The development of the PCR-based fingerprinting techniques such as randomly amplified polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs) (Welsh and McClelland, 1990; Williams et al., 1990), amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) (Lin and Kuo, 1995) and simple sequence repeats (SSRs) (Powell et al., 1996) has accelerated the detection of distinct markers in plant genomes. RAPD method is straightforward and does not require previous genetic knowledge of the target organism. Furthermore, it is very quick and convenient to perform. The RAPD technique has been employed to develop sex-linked markers in Silene latifolia (Zhang et al., 1998), P. longum (Banerjee et al., 1999), Pistacia vera (Hormaza et al., 1994), Salix viminalis (Alstrom-Rapaport et al., 1998), Cannabis sativa (Mandolino et al., 1999) and Actinidia species (Gill et al., 1998). To address the problem of sensitivity, it has been suggested that RAPD marker should be converted to sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) marker based on their DNA sequence (Paran and Michelmore, 1993). The SCAR marker is sequence-specific and can be used to amplify single bands corresponding to single genetic loci. The conversion of RAPD markers to sex-linked SCAR markers et al., was performed in Salix viminalis (Gunter et al., 2003), in Actinidia chinensis (Gill et al., 1998; Geoffrey et al., 1995) and in Papaya (Urasaki et al., 2002). The aims of this study are to 1identify and discriminate between male and female date palm trees via vegetative virtual external morphological characteristics. 2-identify of male-associated SCAR markers in date palm in order to help for plant grower, in selecting the favorable male plant in their programs in fast cost-effective way.

Development of highly informative markers such as simple sequence repeats (SSR) for cultivar identification and germplasm characterization and management is essential for date palms genetic studies. The present study documents the development of SSR markers and assesses genetic relationships of commonly grown date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) cultivars in different geographical regions of Saudi Arabia. A total of 93 novel simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were screened for their ability to detect polymorphism in date palm. Around 71% of genomic SSRs are dinucleotide, 25% trinucleotide, 3% tetranucleotide, and 1% pentanucleotide motives and show 100% polymorphism. The Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA) cluster analysis illustrates that cultivars trend to group according to their class of maturity, region of cultivation, and fruit color. Analysis of molecular variations (AMOVA) reveals genetic variation among and within cultivars of 27% and 73%, respectively, according to the geographical distribution of the cultivars. Developed microsatellite markers are of additional value to date palm characterization, tools which can be used by researchers in population genetics, cultivar identification, as well as genetic resource exploration and management. The cultivars tested exhibited a significant amount of genetic diversity and could be suitable for successful breeding programs. Genomic sequences generated from this study are available at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), Sequence Read Archive (Accession numbers. LIBGSS_039019).