Interspecific genetic diversity of Iranian Achillea species based on morphological traits and total protein profiling

Total protein banding patterns and morphological traits were used to assess genetic diversity among six Achillea species including A. millefolium, A. filipendulina, A. biebersteinii, A. nobilis, A. tenuifolia and A. vermicularis. Variance analysis of morphological traits showed that all evaluated traits were significantly different among species. High genetic variation was observed for both total protein profiles and phenotypic traits. Among the six Achillea species, the mean polymorphism% (PPL) and expected heterozigosity (He) values were 54.82% and 0.192, respectively. A. tenuifolia (PPL and He values: 89.47% and 0.315, respectively) had the highest level of variability, whereas A. millefolium had the lowest level of variability (PPL and He values: 34.21% and 0.132, respectively). The highest genetic distance and the lowest genetic similarity was detected between A. millefolium and A. nobilis (0.278 and 0.238, respectively), which allocated them in separated groups and made them a potential pair for hybridization to reach to high heterosis effects in their hybrids. Molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that the differences among species accounted for 30% of the total variation, whereas differences within species were 70%. The principle coordinate analysis (PCoA) confirmed the results of clustering analysis. Morphological analysis in most cases corresponded to those obtained through protein analyses. These results showed that conservation strategies should be provided to maintain high diversity aiming to improve future breeding programs.

Achillea spp., protein, genetic diversity, morphology