Investigation of genetic variation in Haloxylon salicornicum (Moq.) Bunge ex Boiss in Different habitats by ISSR Markers (Case study: Yazd)

Haloxylon salicornicum (Moq.) Bunge ex Boiss is a shrub that grows in large parts of the central regions of Iran. Due to the high adaptability of this species to the severe environmental conditions and its importance in the stabilization of sand dunes, Dust control and medicinal functions recognition of its genetic diversity and the selection of superior genotypes is very important. A set of 12 inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers were used to evaluate genetic variation of 30 genotypes from 3 locations in Yazd province. Out of 12 primers, 4 primers were able to produce 39 reproducible bands that out of which, 32 bands were polymorphic (79.5%) with a mean PIC value of 0.39. The number of alleles in each individual locus varied in the range of 7-15 with the mean of 9.75. Primers ISSR 826 and with 9 alleles and ISSR7 with 7 allels showed the highest and lowest number of loci, respectively. The mean average rate of Nei’s gene diversity (h') and Shannon’s diversity index (I) were 0.451 and 0.643, respectively Using cluster analysis based on UPGMA algorithm and Jaccard's similarity coefficient, the isolates with 45% similarity level were divided into 5 groups. Shanon index, Principal coordinates analysis (PCoA), and analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed significant difference among isolates selected from three regions. Analysis of molecular variance showed that the highest genetic diversity rate (89%) was disturbed between isolates and genetic variety within different isolated was determined as 11%. Based on these results in this work it can be demonstrated a high genetic diversity within the populations will be due to the closely distributed Haloxylon community in these studied regions.