Investigating the genetic diversity of some of Chavil medicinal plant ecotypes using ISSR molecular markers

Chavil is one of the most important medicinal plants and although there are different accessions of it in Iran, there is no report on the study of its genetic diversity. In this study, molecular markers were used to evaluate the genetic diversity of eight Chavil ecotypes. After preparing the ecotypes from habitats and Isfahan Pakan Bazr Company, DNA extraction was performed and then the polymerase chain reaction was performed using 12 ISSR primers and the obtained molecular data were analyzed. The polymerase chain reaction produced bands using used primers its polymorphism content were varied from 23 to 100 percent. The F6, F8, F9 and F11 primers showed the highest and the F10 primer showed the lowest polymorphism percentage. Also, the highest PIC values were obtained for F6 and F11 primers. The average Shannon index in this study was 0.38, with the lowest data for the F10 primer and the highest for the F11 primer. The cluster analysis of molecular data divided the eight ecotypes into four different groups. The highest genetic similarity between Zardkooh and Gayoneh ecotypes and the lowest genetic similarity between Wezg and Abnahr ecotypes was observed. Ecotypes migration between four neighboring provinces of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Fars and Isfahan appears to have taken place. The present study showed that the ISSR markers were appropriate for the study of the genetic diversity of Chavil.