https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4035-4351
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ABSTRACT
Phlomis olivieri (Lamiaceae) is a medicinal plant that exhibits diverse variations across a multitude of geographical ranges. Here, we studied the genetic diversity of this species according to start codon targeted (SCoT) markers and morphological variability based on 15 morphological traits. Specifically, the genetic diversity was studied among 100 individuals of 10 geographical populations in Iran. The populations were highly variable in almost all morphological traits (P < .01) and the dendrogram showed four main clusters for morphological traits. Out of the 10 primers, five SCoTs produced 93 reproducible bands, of which 92 were polymorphic. Significant values were observed in the average polymorphic information content (0.35), average band informativeness (18.4), resolving power (6.24) and average polymorphism (98.66%). SCoT markers ultimately grouped P. olivieri populations into six main clusters based on the principal component analysis. Using SCoT alleles, the individuals were grouped into eight distinct genetic clusters. The analysis of molecular variance showed a high degree of genetic variation among the populations (71%) and within the populations (29%). The Mantel test revealed a positive correlation between genetic distance and geographical distance. Thus, morphological features and SCoT markers were informative and reliable in revealing diversity among P. olivieri populations.
Acknowledgements
We are thankful to Dr. Hooshmand Safari (Research Department of Forests and Rangelands, Kermanshah) for his kind assistance and advice on analyses of data.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Supplementary material
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/14888386.2022.2117736
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Raziye Zare Hoseini
Razia Zare Hosseini is a PhD student at the Department of Horticultural Science and Agronomy, Science and Research Branch of Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran. She holds a Master’s degree in ornamental plants from the same university and has a licentiate's degree in horticulture from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.
Iraj Mehregan
Iraj Mehregan is an Associate Professor in Molecular Phylogenetics and Genomics. He holds a PhD from Johannes Gutenberg university of Mainz, Germany, and has more than 25 years of experience in research, field/lab work, and academic lecturing. After he finished his PhD on systematics, phylogeny and biogeography of the genus Cousinia (Asteraceae), he returned to Tehran, started his academic career and established his dedicated laboratory and research group at the Department of Biology, Azad University, Science and Research branch, where no such facilities existed. Furthermore, he has been the curator of IAUH herbarium since 2010. He has been busy with research and lecturing in phylogeny, molecular ecology, bioinformatics, conservation genetics and systematics since 2009.
Marzieh Ghanbari Jahromi
Marzieh Ghanbari Jahromi received her BSc and MSc degrees in horticultural science from Shahed University, Tehran and Islamic Azad University, respectively. She earned her PhD in the field of Biotechnology and Molecular Genetics from Science and Research Branch of Islamic Azad University, Tehran in 2013. She is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Horticultural Science and Agronomy, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran since 2015 and her research scope includes plant molecular genetics, environmental stress and phytochemical diversity.
Amir Mousavi
Amir Mousavi received his BSc and MSc degrees in horticultural science from the University of Tabriz and the University of Tehran, respectively. He earned his PhD in Tehran and molecular biology from Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Japan in 1999. Currently, he is an Associate Professor of the National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Tehran and his research scope includes plant molecular genetics.
Seyed Alireza Salami
Seyed Alireza Salami received his PhD in the field of Biotechnology and Molecular Genetics from the University of Tehran in 2010. During 2008-2009, he was invited to join the University of Adelaide to work on the genetics of grapevine powdery mildew. Shortly after, he was invited to Wageningen University as a guest researcher to study genetic interactions between Solanaceae and Phytophtora. His research interests include molecular biology and functional genomics of biotic and abiotic stresses, as well as metabolite engineering of medicinal herbs mainly cannabis and saffron, which aim at fortifying foods, feed and health baskets with valuable compounds. He also has broad and interdisciplinary interests in applied OMICS approaches to survey the genomes, transcript profiling and gene network discovery.