eng Enviro Research Publishers Current Agriculture Research Journal 2347-4688 2321-9971 2017-09-25 5 2 149 159 2625 article Y. El Kharrassi 1,2,6 M.A. Mazri 4 M.H. Sedra 3 A. Mabrouk 1,5 B. Nasser 2 E. El Mzouri 1 Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, CRRA de Settat, Service de Recherche et Développement, Route tertiaire, Settat, Morocco. Université Hassan I, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Laboratoire de Biochimie et Neurosciences, Settat, Morocco. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, CRRA de Marrakech, UR Protection des Plantes, Avenue Mohammed 6, Marrakech, Morocco. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, CRRA de Marrakech, UR Agro-Biotechnologie, Avenue Mohammed 6, BP 533, Marrakech, Morocco. Université Hassan I, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Laboratoire d’Agro-alimentaire et Santé, Settat, Morocco. Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, School of Agriculture, Fertilizer and Environment Sciences: ESAFE, LOT 660-Hay Moulay Rachid, Ben Guérir, Morocco. The genetic diversity within and among 124 accessions of Opuntia spp. collected from different regions of Morocco was assessed using morphological descriptors and molecular markers. Based on 10 morphological traits, the accessions were separated into 3 main clusters; each cluster was containing accessions from different regions and species. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was then performed on 22 accessions from different regions and species, with 10 inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) primers and one random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) primer. ISSR primers produced 66 bands overall, 64 (96.9 %) of which were polymorphic while 6 bands were generated by the RAPD marker, all polymorphic. The polymorphic information content (PIC) values ranged from 0.62 to 0.97, with an average of 0.82. The dendrogram of genetic differences generated using the unweighted pair-group method using arithmetic averages (UPGMA) method showed 7 different clusters at a similarity of 0.76, which was confirmed by the principal component analysis (PCA). The main conclusion of our work is the high genetic similarity between Opuntia ficus indica and Opuntia megacantha species in Morocco. Our results will be useful for plant breeding and genetic resource conservation programs. http://www.agriculturejournal.org/volume5number2/characterization-of-genetic-diversity-of-cactus-species-opuntia-spp-in-morocco-by-morphological-traits-and-molecular-markers/ Cactus pear; DNA; Genetic polymorphism; ISSR; Morphological descriptors; RAPD