Assessment of genetic diversity on populations of three satureja species in Iran using ISSR markers

As we know, Savory herb is one of the most important medicinal plants of Iran that belongs to Lamiaceae family which about 284 species have been identified in the world. Iran, as one of the most important repositories of Savory germplasm in the world, has about 16 species of Satureja genus. Because of so many useful medicinal properties of Savory, this plant has been considered in many recent studies. In this study, 10 different populations of three species (Satureja rechingeri, S. khuzistanica and S. spicigera) related to the different area of Ilam, Lorestan and Gilan provinces have been presented. In order to evaluate the genetic diversity in Satureja genus, the Inter Simple Sequence Repeats method (ISSR) was exploited for 10 populations. After screening of 10 ISSR primers three primers that produced clear and reproducible fragments were selected for further analysis. The three primers generated 19 bands ranging in size from 450 to 1700 bp, corresponding to an average of 6.3 bands per primer. A set of three anchored primers amplified a total of 19 bands out of which 100 % were polymorphic among 49 individuals. Polymorphic information content (PIC value) ranged from 0.22 to 0.36 and marker index (MI) ranged from 1.1 to 2.88 per primer. The primer UBC820 had the highest PIC (0.36) and MI (2.88) values. A maximum genetic similarity value of 0.99 was observed between populations 5 (S. rechingeri) and 8 (S. khuzistanica) and a minimum similarity value of 0.57 was observed between populations 6 (S. rechingeri) and 10 (S. spicigera). The mean coefficient of gene differentiation (Gst) was 0.425, indicating that 72% of the genetic diversity resided within the population. Clustering analysis using WARD algorithm based on Nei's Unbiased Measures of Genetic distance, classified the Satureja populations into four major groups. The PCOA data confirmed the results of clustering. The results of this study revealed that ISSR markers could be efficiently used for genetic differentiation of the Satureja accessions. The primer UBC820 is useful to detection of a high level of polymorphism and it can be used to guide future breeding studies and management of Satureja genus.