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Genetic diversity in populations of the medicinal plant Leonurus cardiaca L. revealed by inter-primer binding site (iPBS) markers

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Abstract

Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca L.) is a medicinal plant indigenous to the Mediterranean regions in Europe and Asia. The objective of this study is to apply inter-primer binding site (iPBS) markers to assess the molecular variation and genetic relationships of 89 genotypes of motherwort to assist the genetic improvement of this species. The genotypes comprised 79 from Iran and 10 collected in Australia and 15 additional accessions of two related species (L. heterophyllus Sweet and L. sibiricus L.) collected in Australia, were also included. PCR of 7 iPBS primers (dominant markers) produced a total of 191 bands ranging from 180 to 4000 bp and the mean PIC for primers ranged from 0.2213 to 0.3206 with a mean value 0.2921. The mean expected heterozygosity (0.134), the mean unbiased expected heterozygosity (0.140) and Shannon’s information index (0.213) indicated a high level of inbreeding among the accessions tested. Ordination and cluster analysis showed that the genetic relationships among all accessions could be separated into three major groups—L. cardiaca, L. heterophyllus and L. sibiricus. However, among the 89 accessions of L. cardiaca, genotypes collected from the same geographic region tended to cluster together thus indicating greater genetic similarity. The Motherwort accessions originating in Iran are highly divergent and possess abundant genetic diversity and clearly provide a basis for selection and breeding. The iPBS PCR-based genome fingerprinting technology used in this study is low-cost and effective in differentiating accessions of motherwort and their related species.

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Acknowledgments

This project is part of PhD research program funded by the University of Tehran. We would like to thank the Iran National Science Foundation. We also greatly appreciate the help of Mr. Abozar Soorni for collecting samples from Iran. The authors would like to thank the Editor and reviewers for their most helpful comments and suggestions. Our thanks are also due to the Plant Breeding Institute—Cobbitty, University of Sydney, Australia which provided the facilities for this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Breeding Institute, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, University of Sydney, 107 Cobbitty Road, Cobbitty, NSW, 2570, Australia

    F. Borna, S. Luo, N. M. Ahmad & R. Trethowan

  2. Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, The University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    F. Borna, V. Nazeri & M. Shokrpour

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  1. F. Borna
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  2. S. Luo
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Correspondence to N. M. Ahmad.

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Borna, F., Luo, S., Ahmad, N.M. et al. Genetic diversity in populations of the medicinal plant Leonurus cardiaca L. revealed by inter-primer binding site (iPBS) markers. Genet Resour Crop Evol 64, 479–492 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-016-0373-4

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