Genetic diversity of Salvia species from Turkey assessed by microsatellite markers

Salvia is one of the most important medicinal plant genus in the Lamiaceae family. The genetic diversity of 85 genotypes belonging to 20 species from the native flora of the Hatay, province of south-central part of Turkey, was analyzed using six microsatellite markers. These markers (SoUZ022, SoUZ024, SoUZ025, SoUZ026, SoUZ027, and SoUZ028) were derived from S. officinalis and were tested in this study to see their cross-species amplification in different Salvia species. Primer screenings results were found as follows; the total number of alleles (Na) was 160, the observed heterozygosity (H-o) values were ranged from 0.871 to 0.976, the expected heterozygosity (H-E) values ranged from 0.871 to 0.976, the polymorphism information content (PIC) ranged from 0.764 to 0.947, and the number of alleles ranged from 19 to 34. The genetic diversity of the flora presented in a dendrogram. In the dendrogram, all the genotypes collected from 85 locations are clustered heterogeneously into four main groups. S. fruticosa was found to be more distant species than the other species in the study. S. aramiensis and S. aucheri were found to be the closest species.

Automated summary

Genetic diversity of 85 genotypes from 20 Salvia species in the province of Hatay, Turkey, was analyzed using six microsatellite markers derived from S. officinalis, showing significant genetic variation among the species.