RAPD molecular markers have revealed smaller genetic diversity than the variation found by morpho-agricultural
analyses.
Moreover, both datasets, namely RAPD and morphoagricultural descriptions, have revealed that the genetic structure
among the studied genotypes is less similar, as seen by the low value of the correlation between both markers.
It is probably due to the neutral character of RAPD markers as well as the small number of botanical traits available for study.
Therefore, it appears that morphological characteristics have to be interpreted with caution, especially colors (Briard et al., 2002).
However, molecular markers are favored in comparison to botanical descriptors due to its feasibility, lower costs and the fact that they are not influenced by the environment, thus, offering higher credibility to the results in gerbera genetic studies.
The markers may be directly employed to drive crossings, to identify and molecularly characterize new hybrid combinations.
Therefore, both approaches to gerbera genetic diversity in the present study are informative and may be used together for this purpose.