Molecular identification and genetic relationships among Alcea (Malvaceae) species by ISSR Markers: A high value medicinal plant

Jinxin Cheng,Yaran Liu,Zetian Zhang,Dingyu Hu,Majid Khayatnezhad

doi:10.36253/caryologia-1330

Abstract

Alcea L. is one of the largest genera of Malvaceae family with nearly 70 species worldwide mainly distributed in SW Asia. According to the latest revision of the family, it is represented by 34 species in the Flora of Iran, among them, 15 species are endemic. It is tough to accurate germplasm/ plant recognition by using morphological characteristics because of its propagation, growing and using. We conducted a molecular data analysis on these plant species due to their importance. We examined 156 plants from 14 species in 16 regions that were selected randomly for this investigation. It has been 119 polymorphic bands (94.33%) were resulted from 128 bands of 10 primers in amplification of genomic DNA. ISSR primers have a great capacity to detect polymorphic loci among Alcea species, as evidenced by the high average PIC and MI values found. The genetic similarity of 14 species was calculated and ranged between 0.635 to 0.990. Inter-Simple sequence repeats (ISSR) markers research revealed that Alcea tarica Pakravan & Ghahreman and Alcea kopetdaghensis lljin had the least similarity, while Alcea semnanica Pakravan and Alcea mazandaranica Pakravan & Ghahreman had the most. The current study attempts to answer three questions: 1) can ISSR markers identify Alcea species? 2) what is the genetic structure of these taxa in Iran? and 3) what is the inter-relationship between these taxa? The current study discovered that ISSR markers can be used to identify species.

Highlights

It is vital to determine the precise boundaries of a species in order to gain a better understanding of any scientific investigations
The genetic structure of populations was studied by Bayesian based model STRUCTURE analysis (Pritchard et al 2000), and maximum likelihood-based method of K-Means clustering of GenoDive ver. 2 (2013)
The current study provided fascinating information about genetic variability, genetic stratification, and morphological difference in Iran’s north and west

Summary

Introduction

It is vital to determine the precise boundaries of a species in order to gain a better understanding of any scientific investigations. The Malvaceae family includes the perennial herb Alcea L., which has its primary centers of diversity in the Western Mediterranean Basin and the Middle East (Zohary 1963a, b, Hutchinson 1973, Riedl 1976, Heywood et al 1978). In Europe, there are only a few species of Alcea (Escobar et al 2009). The Flora of Iran has 34 species, 15 of which are endemic, according to the most recent revision of the family (Pakravan 2008) Alcea species are usually tall-growing hemicryptophytes that grow annually, biennially, or perennially. The stem is erect, rarely branching at the base, and occasionally acaulescent. Mericarps come in a variety of shapes and sizes, each with a sterile upper chamber and a single seeded bottom chamber. Mericarps come in a variety of shapes and sizes, each with a sterile upper chamber and a single seeded bottom chamber. (Ghahreman et al 2001, Pakravan & Ghahreman 2006, Pakravan 2006, 2008)

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Results

Conclusion