The Taxonomic Status of Medicago Sinskiae: Insights from Morphological and Molecular Data

Abstract

Abstract Medicago sinskiae is a poorly understood but fast-expanding species in western and southwestern Iran. The present study was performed to investigate its relationships with other taxa in the M. rigidula complex including M. constricta, and M. rigidula s.l. (including M. rigiduloides). The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis were conducted on 29 morphological characters. The group was also examined based on the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA. The morphological and genetic analyses indicated M. sinskiae (including both spiny and spineless variants) was a separate species, most closely related to M. rigidula and M. rigiduloides. The results also showed that the pod of this species had thornless and thorny varieties. Due to the distribution pattern and its presence in the collected samples, M. sinskiae is considered as a species with rapid expansion in the west and southwest of Iran.

Keywords

• cluster analysis
• principal component analysis
• invasive species
• medics
• iran