Abstract
DNA fingerprinting (AFLP) and chemical analyses of essential oils were utilized to define the extent of variation existing in the genus Ocimum. Research was carried out on 22 Ocimum accessions representing seven species. Concerning the essential oil composition of all investigated accessions, 115 compounds were identified. UPGMA cluster analysis, based on Euclidian distances of essential oil constituents between all pairs of accessions, showed four well-supported clusters (O. tenuiflorum, O. basilicum/O. africanum, O. basilicum, and O. americanum/O. africanum). Relating to the essential oil composition of all of the investigated accessions, 17 compounds were identified as the main ones, and according to them 13 chemotypes were determined. AFLP relationships were determined by neighbor-joining (NJ) cluster analysis based on Dice’s distance matrix and by maximum parsimony (MP) analysis. O. basilicum, O. americanum/O. africanum, O. tenuiflorum, and O. gratissimum represented four clusters supported with high bootstrap values. A neighbor-net diagram allowed the visualization of apparently conflicting data by revealing relationships between genotypes and chemotypes. Concerning the O. africanum species, two distinct chemotypes, geranial/neral (accession 11) and estragol (accession 10), have been established, while all the studied O. americanum accessions belong to the geranial/neral chemotype. This could be additional evidence that O. americanum is one of the parents of O. africanum. Furthermore, the fact that the O. africanum accession (10) as well as O. basilicum ‘Purpurascens’ and O. basilicum ‘Erevanskii’ accessions belong to the estragol chemotype supports the theory that O. africanum is one of the parents of these two O. basilicum accessions.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
