Genetic diversity of Epimedium elatum (Morren & Decne) revealed by RAPD characterization

Abstract

Epimedium elatum (Morren & Decne) is a rare perennial monotypic medicinal herb of Berberidaceae family, endemic to high altitude shady coniferous forests of Northwestern Himalayas in India. Traditionally, it has been used in local health care system for treatment of many ailments. In the present study, a total of ten RAPD markers were used for assessment of genetic diversity in twenty accessions of E. elatum, collected from diverse ecozones in Jammu and Kashmir. Ten primers amplified a total of 100 polymorphic bands with average of 10 bands per assay unit. Primer OPO-07 generated maximum number of bands (15) & produced highest polymorphic information content (0.39), marker index (5.96) and resolving power (8.9), thereby distinguishing E. elatum genotypes. The study showed moderate level of genetic polymorphism in twenty accessions of E. elatum. RAPD data set revealed association between genetic diversity and eco-geographic distribution of most E. elatum genotypes, and thereby proved useful tool for their genetic/molecular characterization. There is an urgent need for developing quick conservation strategies to save its natural germplasm from extinction in the Northwestern Himalayas.

Cluster analysis of karyotype similarity coefficients in Epimedium (Berberidaceae): insights in the systematics and evolution

“…Epimedium is clustered into two groups: 1) Mediterranean and Western Asian taxa and 2) East Asian taxa. The present results supported this classification, consistent with the previous studies on the morphology (Stearn 2002), cytology Zhang et al 2018), molecular biology (Kim et al 2004;Guo et al 2018;Sajad et al 2018) and phytochemistry (Guo et al 2008), all of which confirmed the conclusion that the systematic relationship between species is closely related to the specific geographical distribution in this genus. The present results also showed that, although the vast majority of East Asia taxa could be clustered into one group, there are a few species clustered into other groups of Epimedium or the group of Vancouveria, indicating that the genetic diversity of East Asian taxa are the highest in the genus.…”