Abstract
Hypericum L. species are generally known locally in Iran with the names “Hofariqun” which Ebn Sina (or Bo Ali Sina) called it. Plants of the genus Hypericum have traditionally been used as medicinal plants in various parts of the world. Hypericum perforatum L. is the source to one of the most manufactured and used herbal preparations in recent years, especially as a mild antidepressant. Therefore, due to the importance of these plant species, we performed a molecular data for this species. For this study, we used 175 randomly collected plants from 17 species in 9 provinces. Amplification of genomic DNA using 10 primers produced 141 bands, of which 127 were polymorphic (95.78%). The obtained high average PIC and MI values revealed high capacity of ISSR primers to detect polymorphic loci among Hypericum species. The genetic similarities of 17 collections were estimated from 0.617 to 0.911. According to Inter-Simple sequence repeats (ISSR) markers analysis, H. androsaemum and H. hirtellum had the lowest similarity and the species of H. perforaturm and H. triquetrifolium had the highest similarity. The aims of present study are: 1) can ISSR markers identify Hypericum species, 2) what is the genetic structure of these taxa in Iran, and 3) to investigate the species inter-relationship? The present study revealed that ISSR markers can identify the species.
Highlights
Identifying the accurate boundaries of a species is critical to have a better perspective of any biological studies
Genetic diversity is an important role in biology of long-term evolution of a taxon or a population
Degree of genetic variability within a species is highly correlated with its reproductive mode, the higher degree of open pollination/ cross breeding brings about higher level of genetic variability in the studied taxon (Meusel et al, 1965)
Summary
Identifying the accurate boundaries of a species is critical to have a better perspective of any biological studies. The species of the family are distributed worldwide in the temperate zones but are absent in extreme environmental conditions such as deserts and poles. Iranian species of this genus grow mainly in north, northwest and center of Iran and form floristic elements of Hyrcanian mountainous areas, Irano-Turanian, Mediterranean and Zagros elements. They generally prefer steep slopes of rocky and calcareous cliffs and margin of mountainous forests (Robson 1968; Azadi 1999). The plant contains a vast array of secondary metabolites, among which naphthodianthrones (hypericin and pseudohypericin), acylphloroglucinols (hyperforin and adhyperforin) and essential oil can be mentioned (Morshedloo et al 2012; Radusiene et al 2005)
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