The evaluation of between and within species genetic diversity in seven different species of Achillea Accessions using SSR molecular markers

The yarrow (Achillea spp. L) is one of the most important medicinal plants in the treatment of diseases and food industry. However, there are still limited reports on the genetic diversity and genetic relationships of yarrow species in the country. Therefore, the recent study was performed in order to (1) evaluate the genetic diversity between and within species of some Achillea species in Sanandaj and heir suburbs using SSR molecular markers and (2) to evaluate the efficiency and potential of microsatellite markers (SSR) in the separation and differentiation of the studied species and accessions of yarrow genus. Genetic diversity was assessed in 28 yarrow accessions belonging to seven vehicle species using 16 pairs of SSR markers. Genomic DNA was extracted by CTAB method from fresh and soft leaves of two to three week plantlets obtained from accessions seed culture as bulk. The products of PCR amplification were seperated by 2.5% metaphor agarose gel electrophoresis and photographed with a document gel apparatus. The PopGene, GenAlEx 6.2, DARwin 5, PASTv3.18 softwares were used to calculate genetic parameters, molecular variance analysis, similarity matrix, cluster analysis and principal component analysis (PCA). Twelve pairs of SSR primers set identified 56 alleles among yarrow species. The average percentage of polymorphs and the number of polymorphic alleles were 82.56% and 3.92, respectively. The average of polymorphic information content (PIC) was 0.324. Based on molecular analysis of variance, 64% of the available variance was intra-species and 36% was inter-species. The mean of total similarity coefficients between species and between populations were 0.76 and 0.588, respectively. Cluster analysis separated the populations to a high extent (82%) and also put up the studied species into three separate groups. The results of principal coordinate analysis (PCA) were comparable with the results of cluster analysis and similarity matrix and confirmed them to a large extent. Generally, the studied accessions of yarrow showed a relatively high genetic diversity, so that the highest amount belonged to intra-species diversity. The SSR marker had high efficiency and potential in detecting genetic diversity, separation and differentiation of yarrow populations and species. Therefore, these markers will help identify elite genotypes for domestication and breeding programs of these plants.