Seed surface ultrastructure shows a wide variation among different species of the genus Allium that could potentially provide valuable characters in inferring the relationships. In order to evaluate inter-and intraspecific variation of testa microsculpturing in the leek alliance, 33 seed samples of Allium representing its two subgenera, six sections, and 23 species were studied. Seed testa surface was analyzed using both SEM and Stereomicroscopy. Minor differences in testa cell arrangement were observed between members of sect. Allium and sect. Avulsea (both of subg. Allium), but major contrasts were discerned between them and members of subg. Cepa.Significant similarity was distinguished in anticlinal walls of the members of sect. Allium and sect.Avulsea: they were variously undulated (U-, to AEΩ-like). Testa cells in members of subg. Cepa, and some of subg. Allium (sect. Caerulea, sect. Codonoprasum, and sect. Longivaginata) showed ribbed anticlinal walls suggesting a close relationship between them. The periclinal walls were concave, flat to convex with testa cells densely granulose at margins in sect. Caerulea; flat to convex, irregularly granulose-verrucose in sect. Codonoprasum; concave, densely granulose at margins and center in sect. Longivaginata; and convex, densely irregularly granulose, sometimes centrally verrucose in subg. Cepa. Irregularly polygonal cells were present in most species, but elongated polygonal cells in two species, A. iranicum and A. wendelboi (sect. Allium). We found significant micromorphological similarity in seed surface features between A. abbasii and A. fuscoviolaceum; A. esfandiarii and A. atroviolaceum; and A. longipapillatum and A. rotundum, corroborating close relationships. K E Y W O R D SIran, leek, micromorphology, taxonomy, testa sculpturing

Abstract-The cultivated barley (Hordeum vulgare subsp. vulgare) is one of the major crops in the world. In this study the genetic diversity of 32 individuals of two-rowed and six-rowed Iranian landraces barley evaluated using 17 microsatellite markers. A high level of polymorphism information content (PIC; average = 0.651) and an average of 8.117 allele per locus were observed. In dendrograms constructed based on the SSR data, the two group of cultivars (var. distichon and var. hexastichon) were separated. Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that there is a high level of genetic diversity between the barely landraces in Iran and that the barely Iranian gene pool is valuable source to search for new useful alleles for crop improvement.

Iran, as a part of Fertile Crescent, is within the center of diversity and origin of the Triticum L. from Poaceae Barnhart (Gramineae A. L. de Jussieu) family. This study concerns the genetic diversity and inter-relationships analyses of 89 accessions of diploid Triticum (2n = 2x = 14) species including T. monococcum, T. boeoticum subsp. boeoticum, T. boeoticum subsp. thaoudar and T. urartu belong to the einkorn wheat group collected all around Iran using 8 primer pairs of IRAP (Inter-Retrotransposon Amplified Polymorphism). Of 220 DNA fragments analysed from all of accessions, 217 (98.6%) were polymorphic. The genetic distances among taxa and accessions were estimated and dendrograms showing relationship among accessions were generated. The results of this study showed that four taxa of diploid wheat are very similar to each other genetically and there is a high affinity, gene flow and genetic relationships between diploid Triticum accessions, although T. monococcum can be distinct loosely from the two other species including T. boeoticum and T. urartu. The highest average Nei genetic distances were found between T. monococcum and T. urartu (0.14) and the lowest between T. boeoticum subsp. boeoticum and T. boeoticum subsp. thaoudar (0.03). Analyssi of molecular variance (AMOVA) was revealed that 84% of total variation attributed to within population’s variability and the remaining 16% variation was ascribed to the differences among species; also it demonstrated a geographical distinction among Triticum accessions. These data proved a center of high diversity in the West and the Northwest of Iran and clearly exposed patterns of two distinct geographic regions.

Allium is a particularly species rich (more than 800 species) and economically important genus, with numerous taxonomic problems at all levels of classification. In this study, we try to uncover the phylogenetic relationships of the common leek Allium ampeloprasum based on selected samples of this species and its putative relatives in A. sect. Allium from Iran. The silica‐dried leaf samples of 56 accessions representing 23 species of Allium were sequenced; 53 sequences of nrDNA ITS, 35 sequences of plastid rps16 and 52 sequences of trnL–F were generated and additional accessions were extracted from GenBank in order to cover all recognized main lineages in the genus. Maximum Parsimony and Bayesian Inference generated similar trees, but the placement of A. ampeloprasum and its relatives differed slightly between the nuclear and the plastid phylogenies. In the nrITS tree, A. ampeloprasum is retrieved as a highly supported clade with A. iranicum, while in the combined plastid tree A. ampeloprasum formed a highly supported clade with A. vineale. This supports the hypothesis of a possible hybrid origin of A. ampeloprasum. Allium iranicum formed a clade in the plastid tree, but was resolved as paraphyletic in the nrITS tree, probably due to presence of multiple non‐concerted copies of nrITS. Close relationships are suggested between the following species: A. aznavense and A. wendelboi with A. talyschense, A. erubescens and A. rotundum with A. scorodoprasum and A. abbasii with A. phanerantherum.

Taxonomic descriptions of Iranian and Turkish Hesperis (Brassicaceae) species are generally insufficient and partly incomplete, which makes the species delimitation ambiguous. In order to clarify species circumscription, we scored 57 morphological descriptors (MDs) in 121 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of Hesperis from Iran and Turkey and performed a multivariate analysis. The dendrogram was created from Gower’s distance matrix using Unweighted Pair Group Method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) algorithm. The dendrogram clearly separates the 121 OTUs of Hesperis into five main phenons, which significantly deviate from the classical taxonomic treatment (sectional assignments) of the genus. Similar distinct delineation among the five phenons was revealed by a Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA), highlighting the resolving power of the multivariate analyses of quantitative and qualitative morphological characters. While there were significant variations among the OTUs for 57 MDs, the most distinctive morphological descriptors delimiting the phenons were estimated to be fruit, petal, stem, and leaf by a de-trended correspondence analysis (DCA). We also present a comparative discussion between the classical taxonomy and the delimitation of taxa revealed in our study.