Study of Genetic Diversity among Crataegus Species (Hawthorn) Using ISSR Markers in Iran

Crataegus spp. are used for horticultural and medicinal purposes. The medicinal importance of Crataegus is attributed to components such as flavonoids, procyanidin, aromatic acid, and cardiotonic amines. The genetic relationships among the five Iranian Crataegus species including C. aronia, C. pontica, C. meiery, C. monogyna, and C. pentagyna were assessed using inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR) technique. Six primers generated 79 products in total, of which 71 were polymorphic (89.9%), with an average of 13.1 bands per primer. The percentage of polymorphic bands ranged from 77 to 100. Primer 856 produced the highest while primer 845 the lowest number of bands. The Jaccard’s similarity coefficient derived from ISSR marker analysis ranged from 0.164 to 0.337 which represents very high gene variation among the species of Crataegus in Iran. This studies will indicate important clues in understanding genotype relationship which may further assist in planning and developing breeding strategies to improve medicinal properties of this genus.