The study of genetic diversity in some Iranian accessions of Hyoscyamus sp. using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and retrotransposon/AFLP markers

Abstract

Hyoscyamus sp. is well known as a natural source of two main tropan alkaloids including hyoscyamine and scopolamine. The environmental conditions make a very wide diversity of this herb in Iran. This study was conducted to evaluate the genetic diversity within a set of 45 Iranian accessions of Hyoscyamus sp. using amplified fragment length polymorphism and retro/AFLP markers. 18 primer combinations of AFLP markers and five retro/AFLP primer combinations were also used to estimate genetic diversity among accessions. Analysis of banding patterns of 18 AFLP primer combinations revealed 264 polymorphic bands. A total of 264 polymorphic fragments were scored with an average of 14.7 fragments per primer combination. The five retro/AFLP primer combinations generated 42 clearly scorable polymorphic bands across 45 genotypes. The number of polymorphic fragments for each primer pair varied from 5 to 12 with an average of 8.4 polymorphic fragments per primer combination. The cluster analysis discriminated the accessions based on the species and the origin of accessions and demonstrated a high level of genetic diversity in Hyoscyamus sp. accessions. According to cluster analysis, almost all accessions of Hyoscyamus niger and all accessions of Hyoscyamus reticulatus were placed in the same group and the accessions of Hyoscyamus puccillus from the Yazd province were classified in the same group. These results provide important information with regard to future domestication and breeding programs for management of germplasm resources.

Key words: Hyoscyamus, retrotransposon, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), genetic diversity.