Ocimum species are used in traditional Iranian medicine, as a culinary herb, and as a well-known source of flavoring principles. Horticultural characteristics, including quantitative and qualitative traits along with the chemical variation of phenolic acids, of 23 accessions of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) from Iran were studied. Morphological studies of accessions showed a high level of variability in recorded traits. Quantification of phenolic acids was determined using high-performance liquid chromatography and showed drastic variations between accessions. Chemical studies revealed that rosmarinic acid is the predominant phenolic acid present in both flower and leaf tissues. Unusual basil accessions were identified that can serve as genetic sources of phenolic acids for crop improvement.
Melon is one of the most important horticultural crops in Iran. There are a few studies on the genetic structure of Iranian melon. A set of 18 simple sequence repeat (SSR) primer pairs were used to assess the genetic diversity in a collection of 24 melon accessions representing different botanical groups of Iranian cultivated melons (vars. inodorus, cantalupensis and dudaim), along with 28 reference accessions from diverse geographic origin. All studied SSR loci were polymorphic that confirmed their usefulness for genetic analysis of melons. A total number of 141 alleles were detected, with an average of 7.8 alleles per locus for reference genotypes and 4.38 alleles per locus for Iranian accessions. The low variability within Iranian melon accessions is reflected by the low values of the observed heterozygosity (with an average of 0.119), indicating lack of intercrossing between accessions or a high rate of self-pollination. Values of observed homozygosity for ''Suski-e-Sabz'' and ''Khatouni'', as the most cultivated melon in Iran, were 0.98 and 0.99, respectively. Cluster analysis divided Iranian accessions into two major groups. The highest level of polymorphism was detected among the dudaim group. The analysis of molecular variance indicated that the majority of variation (87 %) was due to the difference within accessions. The average pairwise genetic distance among Iranian accessions was 0.674.Our results showed a distinct separation of dudaim group from the rest of Iranian accessions, even separated two different groups of var. dudaim with different traits. There was a wide genetic distance between Honey Dew, as the most popular member of inodorus group worldwide and ''Khatouni'', a major Iranian winter melon (GD = 0.809). This genetic distance shows the importance of Iranian accessions for conservation and use in breeding programs.
Diversity among Iranian melon landraces of Groups Flexuosus and Dudaim was studied by analyzing morphological and physiological traits and by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Thirty-one morphological and physiological traits showed significant variation among accessions. Some Flexuosus accessions had typical morphological characters of elongated fruit shape, light skin color, ribs on fruit skin and nonsweet flesh. Characters distinct from in typical accessions, such as short fruits, dark green skin color, five carpels, sweet flesh, were especially in ribless accessions. Cluster analysis of morphological and physiological characters divided Iranian melon into seven groups. Dudaim (cluster VII) was clearly separated from Flexuosus, in which typical (cluster I) accessions and atypical accessions (clusters III-VI) were grouped separately. The diversity index shown by RAPD was 0.201 in 25 Flexuosus accessions and was rich in genetic diversity. Cluster analysis using RAPD divided Flexuosus accessions into eight subclusters, and clarified genetic similarity between Iranian melon accessions and reference accessions of large-seed type (Groups Inodorus and Cantalupensis). These results may suggest that large-seed Flexuosus, Inodorus and Cantalupensis are not differentiated genetically, probably due to spontaneous inter-group hybridization.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.