GENETIC DIVERSITY AMONG POPULATIONS OF THE TAMARIX SPECIES USING CDDP MOLECULAR MARKER

Tamarix L. is a problematic genus in taxonomy of Tamaricaceae due to the uncertainty of species number, distribution, and ecological conditions in Iran. In this study, we investigated the genetic diversity and taxonomic relationships of 34 individuals from 8 populations including 3 species of Tamarix in Isfahan province, Iran. Ten primers using CDDP molecular marker were used to survey the genetic diversity of the genus. One hundred and twenty-five bands were created from ten primers, of which 102 (80.16%) were polymorphic. Cluster analysis classified individuals into three distinct groups. High gene flow among Tamarix species using PCoA analysis showed high variability among the three Tamarix species, so that samples from different species were grouped together. Molecular analysis of variance showed that intra-population genetic diversity (90%) was greater than inter-population genetic diversity (10%). The highest mean Neiʼs genetic diversity (H) and Shannon diversity index (I) was observed in the Habib Abad population. Data analysis showed that morphological traits and DNA sequencing data in the genus Tamarix were not fully correlated, which could be justified by the large number of hybrids between species and the lack of genetic differentiation between the studied species.