RETRACTED ARTICLE: Genetic Structure and Diversity Analysis Revealed by AFLP Markers on Different Glycyrrhiza glabra L. an Endangered Medicinal Species from South of Iran and Implications for Conservation.

Abstract

Glycyrrhiza glabra is an endangered and national-protected medicinal plant species distributed in semi-arid and arid areas of South of Iran. This study addresses the genetic diversity and relationship between populations in different habitats by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). The plant materials consisted of 90 individuals from nine different populating areas of Dezful, Ramhormoz, Ahvaz, Abadan, Khorramshahr, Behbahan, Haft-tapeh, Andimeshk, and Shushtar. Twenty-three AFLP primer combinations generated a total of 1019 bands with 94.80 % polymorphism. Unweighted pair group method based on arithmetic average (UPGMA) analysis was performed on Jaccard’s similarity coefficient matrix. According to results, the genetic resources and diversity in wild populations of G. glabra were rich. The number of polymorphic fragments per primer combination detected ranged from 18 to 65 bands with an average of 41.95 bands. Average polymorphic information content (PIC) was 0.81 in overall primer combinations. M-GTC+P-AGC primer combination showed the highest PIC (0.94) which can be a good candidate primer combination to verify genetic diversity in G. glabra. The UPGMA and principal coordinate analysis showed a clear distinction among the genotypes and the genotypes divided into three clusters in the dendrogram results. A model-based structure analysis revealed the presence of three groups. The study showed that genetic variation and population structure are determined among the accessions of G. glabra collected from different locations. High level of genetic variation in both intra- and inter-species was detected. Conservational efforts have to be strengthened for all populations of the plant species in different habitats.