Study of relationships among twelve Phyllanthus species with the use of molecular markers

Abstract

The present investigation was undertaken to describe the relationships among twelve species of Phyllanthus collected in India by help of molecular markers. In total, 259 marker loci were assessed, out of which 249 were polymorphic revealing 96.13% polymorphism. Nei's similarity index varied from 0.35 to 0.76 for RAPD (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA) and from 0.31 to 0.76 for ISSR marker systems. Cluster analysis by the unweighted pair group method (UPGMA) of Dice coefficient of similarity generated dendrogram with more or less similar topology for both the analyses that offered a better explanation for diversity and affinities between the species. The phylogenetic tree obtained from both RAPD and ISSR (Inter Simple Sequence Repeat) markers has divided the 12 species into two groups: group I consisting of only one species Phyllanthus angustifolius (Sw.) Sw and group II with the rest of 11 species. Basically, these results were in compliance with notable morphological characterization. The present study revealed high variation among the species of Phyllanthus and will help to identify different Phyllanthus species.

Keywords

• genetic variation
• issr
• medicinal plant
• rapd