Evaluation of molecular and morphological diversity of caper (Capparis spinosa L.)

Capparis spinosa L. (Capparidaceae) is the largest genus of the family Capparaceae, distributed in pantropical region. C. spinosa is known as a medicinal plant species. In Iran, different parts of caper bush plants are used as diuretics, tonics and in treatment of malaria and joint disease. Till present time, there has been no detailed information available on molecular phylogeny and genetic structure of these species in the country. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim to investigate species delimitation by both morphological and molecular data and to reveal genetic diversity and population structure in these five of Capparis species. For this study, 108 randomly collected plants from 20 geographical populations in of Capparis species were used. We encountered extensive within species genetic and morphological diversity. ISSR molecular markers could delimit the studied species. STRUCTURE analysis revealed the occurrence gene flow between these species. The Mantel test showed correlation between genetic distance and geographical distance of the populations studied. Phylogenetic tree was constructed based on ITS data set which separated out-groups from the studied species. Genetic affinity of the studied species have been discussed.

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Evaluation of Molecular and Morphological Diversity of Capparis Spinosa

10.21203/rs.3.rs-191689/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Noshin Mahmodi ◽

Gholam-Reza Sharifi-Sirchi ◽

Kianoosh Cheghamirza

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Cluster Analysis ◽

Genetic Relationships ◽

Perfect Match ◽

Morphological Diversity ◽

Issr Markers ◽

Zagros Mountains ◽

Geographical Regions ◽

Capparis Spinosa ◽

Polymorphic Bands

Abstract The objective of this study was the evaluation of molecular and morphological diversity among 80 caper (Capparis spinosa L.) genotypes from the 12 regions of the central Zagros Mountains located in the west of Iran. The results showed a high level of morphological genetic variation among the caper samples. According to the morphological cluster analysis, 80 genotypes were clustered into five main groups. The 15 factors justiﬁed 78.7 % of the total variation based on factor analysis. ISSR primers produced a total of 108 polymorphic bands (85.04%) from 127 bands and the PIC for primers ranged from 0.01 to 0.52. SCoT primers produced a total of 165 polymorphic bands (86.84%) from 190 bands and the PIC for primers ranged from 0.06 to 0.55. Ordination and cluster analysis by ISSR markers showed that the genetic relationships among all accessions could be separated into three major groups and by SCoT markers separated into six groups. The results did not show a perfect match between the molecular diversity groupings and geographical regions, because many natural factors and human activities shape the amount and pattern of genetic diversity in a plant population. SCoT markers were more informative than ISSR markers for the assessment of genetic diversity of caper germplasm. The combined (ISSR+SCoT) markers haven't shown more information of genetic diversity than single analysis of ISSR and SCoT. The results indicated the existence of dispersion and different levels of morphological variation and molecular genetic diversity in the genotypes collected from west of Iran.

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