الفهرس 
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Abstract
Morphological and molecular analyses were conducted to evaluate the genetic diversity among eleven male and female date palms (Phoenix dactylifera L.) cultivated in Egypt (Female cultivars are: Sewi; collected from 2 locations, Amhat, Zagloul and Hayani, while male palms include two Sewi male cultivars and four unidentified males). Ten SSR primer pairs revealed a high percentage of polymorphism (97.4%) among 38 total number of alleles, while 11 SCoT primers produced 48.5% from 171 amplified fragments. In addition to a number of unique markers for both marker systems. The study also included the usability of a SCAR marker in sex differentiation among Egyptian cultivars. The obtained results represented a discrimination power for this marker to distinguish between Egyptian male and female genotypes by a percentage of about 82% where 9 out of 11 genotypes were recognized correctly. The genetic diversity analysis for date palms revealed similar dendrograms with some slight variations. The results of UPGMA cluster analysis and PCoA grouped the eleven date palms according to their geographical location and sex. Results indicated homogeneous nature and narrow genetic background for the Egyptian date palms under study. In addition, a comprehensive investigation for Egyptian date palm genome variations was presented and novel DNA markers (SNPs and indels) were developed in four date palm cultivars using SOLiD sequencing and bioinformatics analyses. This is the first whole genome sequencing study for date palm in Egypt. This study adds a milestone in date palm fundamental research to improve such a valuable crop.