Genetic diversity was evaluated by RAPD markers and morpho-agronomic characters for a total of 42
accessions of Barberton daisy (Gerbera jamesonii) consisting of 29 commercial and 13 wild accessions. A
total of 74 polymorphic bands were obtained employing a set of 12 primer pairs. The average genetic
similarity coefficient for the 42 accessions, evaluated by Jaccard index was 0.55 ranging from 0.28 to
1.00. The genetic structure found among Barberton daisy accessions was evaluated by hierarchic
classification analyses and UPGMA modeling, revealing six clusters of genotypes where two of them
include the wild accessions and the remaining four including commercial material, except for wild
genotype number 9. Shannon (H0
) index was calculated using the molecular markers to investigate the
genetic variation among the Gerbera accessions and showed higher values for the commercial cluster in
comparison to the values obtained for the individuals from the non-commercial cluster, namely 0.34
versus 0.27, respectively. Therefore, both calculated indices (Jaccard and Shannon) indicated the
presence of higher genetic variation among commercial accessions in comparison to the cluster
representing non-commercial accessions, suggesting that genetic breeding programs may focus on
commercial accessions to recombine interesting genotypes with commercially important and
marketing-desired characteristics.