The genetic variation of the genus Paracaryum (DC) Boiss. (Boraginaceae) from Iran based on nrDNA ITS Sequence Data

چکیده مقاله

Boraginaceae is one of the largest angiosperm families, comprising approximately 100 genera and almost 2000 species distributed worldwide. The genus Paracaryum (DC) Boiss. belongs to the tribe Cynoglosseae. This genus has about 19 species in Iran. Eighteen specimens from 10 species of Paracaryum were collected from their natural habitats in Iran. In order to study the genetic variations of different species, nucleotide sequence data from the internal transcribed spacer of the nuclear rDNA genes (ITS) were obtained. Total genomic DNA was isolated from dried leaves using the standard CTAB extraction protocol. The ITS regions of each sample were amplified by PCR employing ITS4 and ITS5 primers. ITS sequences were aligned with Bioedit Vers. 7.0.9. and adjusted manually. The ITS sequence of Cynoglossum nebrodense and Cynoglossum pustulatum were included in the analyses as outgroups. The aligned ITS data matrix (with outgroup) consisted of 639 characters, of which 582 characters are constant; 26 variable characters are parsimony-uninformative and 31 parsimony- informative characters were detected. The aligned data matrix was reconstructed by parsimony optimality criterion using PAUP* ver. 4.0b10. Support for clades were evaluated by bootstrapping using 1000 replications with the heuristic search option. The monophyly of Paracaryum is corroborated by high bootstrap support value of 99 %. The ingroup falls into five clades: (1) P. undulatum , P. rugulosum and P. modestum with BS of 76%, (2) P. crista-galli with BS 84%, (3) P. turcomanicum and P. gorganicum with BS 100%, (4) P. sintenisii with BS 89%, (5) P. hirsutum with BS under 50%.