Identification of Nepeta olgae Regel and phylogenetic status of some genera in subtribe Nepetinae (Lamiaceae) using DNA markers

Abstract

The species level diversity is the reference unit for biodiversity accounting, should be systematized and include full information about the species. Reliable identification of any species is critical for a large-scale biodiversity monitoring and conservation. A DNA barcode is a DNA sequence that identifies a species by comparing the sequence of an unknown species with barcodes of a known species sequence database. Accurate identification of important plants is essential for their conservation, inventory. The species diversity assessing exampled on the subtribe Nepetinae (Lamiaceae) representatives, growing in Uzbekistan is given, using DNA barcoding method. The study was aimed to identify indigenous important plants with the nuclear (ITS) and plastid (matK, rbcL, trnL-F) genomes. This work demonstrates the phylogenetic relationships of some genera within the subtribe Nepetinae Coss. & Germ. (Lamiaceae), based on ITS locus gene. All results indicate that the DNA barcoding tool can be successfully used to reliably identify important plants, to inventory the botanical resources of Uzbekistan and to create a reference library of DNA barcodes. So, the combination of three-four locus gene is a good candidate for this approach.