Study of genetic diversity in Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) ecotypes using ISSR marker

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Biotechnology and plant breeding, University of zabol, Itan

Abstract
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) is one the oldest known medicinal plants, which is naturally and
commercially grown in Iran and many parts of the world. In this study, the genetic variation of 17 Iranian
fennel ecotypes were investigated by ISSR molecular marker. The ISSR markers produced a total of 51
genomic DNA segments, of which 45 bands were polymorphic. The mean polymorphism per primer, mean
Polymorphic Index Content (PIC), and Marker Index (MI) were 9, 0.478 and 5.92, respectively. The
dendrogram was constructed using UPGMA method and Jaccard’s similarity matrix. The ecotypes were
grouped under three main groups. The 2D and 3D PCoA analysis confirmed the results of the cluster analysis.
The results indicated that the studied ecotypes had meaningful genetic diversity, and the genetic grouping
using ISSR markers was correlated with the geographical distribution of the genotypes. This study could
improve the knowledge about the Iranian fennel genetic pool, and contribute to breeding and germplasm
protection programs of medicinal plants.

Keywords