Genetic relationships among species of Iranian crocus (Crocus spp.)

Fifteen microsatellite markers were employed to evaluate genetic relationships among different Iranian species of Crocus spp. (C. sativus, C. haussknechtii, C. cancellatus, C. speciosus, and C. caspius) from ten geographical regions (Ghaen, Gonabad, Estahban, Ferdows, Veresk, Reno, Ali abad, Kali abad, Neka, and Eslam abad). Of these, 12 primers revealed polymorphism among Crocus spp. Average polymorphism information content (PIC) and genetic diversity valueswere 0.33 and 0.41, respectively. Cluster analysis using the neighbor-joining (NJ) algorithm based on Nei’s genetic distance separated all the cultivated clonesfrom wild ones and differentiated all species. Utilizing principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), significant heterogeneity was observed within Crocus species. Based on the genetic distance (0.0311) andfixation index (FST=0.33, P > 0.05) between Estahban (29° 12ʹ N and 54° 03ʹ E) and Ferdows (34° 01ʹ N and 58° 16ʹ E), it seems that accessions from Estahbanmay have originated from Ferdows genotypes. Indeed, results revealed that C. hausskntchii is the closest wild species to cultivated ones.