The use of molecular markers supports the study of genetic marker–trait association of biological and agronomic interest in diverse genetic material. In this research, association between simple sequence repeat (SSR) and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers with fruit traits were investigated in two collections of cherries by applying multiple regression analysis (MRA). Thirty-eight SSR alleles and 135 RAPD fragments were found associated with 14 of affecting fruit traits. Some of SSR and RAPD markers were associated with more than one fruit trait in MRA. Such an association may arise due to pleiotropic effect of the linked quantitative trait locus on different traits. For example, some SSR and RAPD markers were associated with all four traits including fruit cracking, fruit firmness, total soluble solid (TSS) and fruit shape. Also, some markers had correlations with all four characters of TSS, anthocyanin, fruit skin color and fruit flesh color, indicating a significant correlation among these traits. Therefore, it is possible to use these markers along with morphological traits in cherry breeding programs for identification of suitable parents to produce mapping populations and hybrid cultivars. Also, these results could be useful in marker-assisted breeding programs when no other genetic information is available.
