Molecular characterization and study of phylogeny of some commercially important Vandaceous orchids (Orchidaceae) based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS)

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Habitat destruction, indiscriminate and rampant collection of Vandaceous orchids for their ornamental and medicinal values have resulted many of the important species pushed to threatened category and to struggle for their survival in nature. Illegal trade of this commercially important group of orchids continues as these orchids are similar in shape, size and difficult to identify and classify, especially when they are not in flowering stage. To address this issue of authentic identification, molecular barcode can be a useful tool for rapid identification even from vegetative tissues which will help in preventing indiscriminate collection of the species. The present study was carried out to test the discriminatory power of Internal Transcribed Spacer (IT1 and IT2) region in barcoding and to ascertain their phylogenetic relationship among these 31 species (80 individuals) from 15 genera of Vandaceous orchids. The sequences were aligned using ClustalW and genetic distances were computed using MEGA 7.0. Data analyses suggest that ITS of nuclear ribosomal DNA is a reliable marker which can be used as an efficient barcode to identify. The species resolution by three methods stood at 95.52% by genetic distance, 79.40% by BLAST analysis and 95.52% by phylogenetic tree building method and also analyze their phylogenetic relationships among Vandaceous orchids of Nagaland.