Genetic Diversity of Salvia Species of Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari and Esfahan Provinces through AFLP Molecular Markers

Salvia is known in slang by the name sage. This plant is one of the most populated members of the flowered plants of the family Laminacea with approximately 1000 species in the world. The plant has a wide practical usage in food industries, cosmetics and health care. There exist much similarity and interconnection among Salvia species as a result of which the recognition of species and sub-species among them is problematic when based on the phenotypic element. Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) analysis is a rapid and efficient method for producing DNA fingerprints and molecular characterization. In this study, 52 populations of Salvia belonging to 13 different species were collected from Chaharmahal va Bakhtiary and from Esfahan Provinces along with one spacimen Nepeta as an "out group". A total of 14 AFLP primer combinations used, generated 832 bands of which 830 (%99.76) were polymorphic. PICs ranged from 0.84 to 0.96 and maximum Marker Index (MI) estimated as 96.5. Genetic similarity ranged from 0.05 to 0.83. Cluster analysis showed high diversity among populations. Grouping of species was in agreement with classification of species based on Grex as proposed by Hedge in Flora Iranica.