Genetic diversity of population of Thymus eriocalyx by using RAPD molecular marker

The genus Thymus L. is one of the largest genera of the Lamiaceae family and aromatic plants. Plants of these genera have commercial value due to their essential oils. Thymus eriocalyx is one of the species that is exclusively on the Iranian plateau. In order to investigate the molecular characteristics of Thymus eriocalyx populations in Iran, 10 habitats were selected in Lorestan, Markazi, Hamedan, Kermanshah and Kurdistan provinces (using the DSS method) (50 plant samples). Also, 15 primers with 10 N lengths selected. The molecular data, based on RAPD experiments, divided the populations into five distinct groups. Primers used in this experiment produced 71 bands, which showed 68 polymorphic bands. OPA-05, OPA-17, OPD03 and OPE-20 primers with the highest polymorphism and marker index had excellent ability to study genetic variation in studied species. P2 and P7 populations had the maximum effective allele and p9 population had the minimum value. The highest and lowest mean of expected heterozygosity belonged to P2 and P9 populations, respectively. The highest genetic similarity was observed between P2 and P3 genotypes and the lowest genetic similarity between P2 and P10. The results of analysis of variance (AMOVA) showed that the variation within the populations of these species (68%) is greater than the diversity among populations (32%), which this fact prove the importance of single plant selection and paying attention to individual in Thymus breeding programs.