Investigation of genetic diversity in Iranian populations of Achillea nobilis using ISSR molecular markers and morphological traits

Spectacular yarrow (Achillea nobilis) is an important medicinal plant with various therapeutic properties that naturally grows in large areas of Iran. In this study, the genetic diversity of 33 populations of A. nobilis available in the gene bank of the Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands (RIFR) was evaluated using ISSR markers. Ten plants were selected from each population and their DNA was extracted. From a total of 12 ISSR primers, six primers with an average of 88% polymorphism were used to study the diversity and differentiation of the populations. The P12 and P5 primers showed the highest number of bands with 13 and 11 bands, respectively, while primer 1-7 with 7 bands showed the lowest number of bands. The Polymorphic Information Content (PIC), Marker Index (MI), Effective Multiple Ratio (EMR), and Resolution index (Rp) were calculated for all the primers. Subsequently, P12 primer was recognized as the best for genetic diversity analysis of spectacular yarrow. Cluster analysis of the molecular data showed a close relationship between the geographical distribution and genetic diversity of A. nobilis populations. Accordingly, the populations collected from each region (North, center, and West of Iran) were placed in a separate group. Based on the genetic parameters, the highest genetic diversity was among populations from the North of Iran. Segregation of the populations based on the morphological traits did not correlate significantly with geographical distribution. According to the results, ISSR markers were efficient for studying the genetic diversity of A. nobilis populations and can be used in future studies to analyze the germplasm collection of A. nobilis Additionally, due to the extinction risk of medicinal species, breeders can take advantage of the wide genetic diversity among A. nobilis populations for targeted crosses, in breeding improve varieties and conservation strategies of this species.