Identification of Inter Species Genetic Variability between Two Morphologically Similar Species of Withania through Protein and Rapd Markers

The two species of Withania i.e. Withania obtusifolia and Withania somnifera were usually misinterpreted because of their coexistence in mixed populations. The present investigation involves analyzed of interspecific relationship between these two species. A careful morphological, anatomic and phytochemical, identification of the two species has led to the findings that there was a slight variation between these two species. SDS-PAGE has been effectively used for the comparative study of proteins profiles in leaf and seeds of W. somnifera and W. obtusifolia. The RAPD analysis of W. somnifera and W. obtusifolia encouraged us to think positively that there are most considerable genetic variations between these two species. This result was the most important evidence for differences between the two Withania species. INTRODUCTION: The family Solanaceae comprises 84 genera and 3000 species distributed in tropical and temperate regions of both hemispheres but chiefly in western and southern America. It includes herbs, shrubs, often creeping or climbing. The members of Withania genera play an important role in the indigenous medicine of South East Asia, e.g. in the Unani and Ayurvedic systems. QUICK RESPONSE CODE DOI: 10.13040/IJPSR.0975-8232.4(7).2817-20 Article can be accessed online on: www.ijpsr.com The sixty six known Withania species are widely distributed in the drier parts of tropical and subtropical zones, ranging from the Canary Islands, the Mediterranean region and northern Africa to Southwest Asia 1, 2 . Among them, only two species, W. somnifera and W. coagulans, are economically and medicinally significant, being used and cultivated in several regions 3 . The chemistry of Withania species has been extensively studied and several groups of chemical constituents such as steroidal lactones, alkaloids, flavonoids, tannin etc. have been identified, extracted, and isolated 4, 5 .