Molecular analysis of genetic diversity and population genetic structure in Ephedra foliata: an endemic and threatened plant species of arid and semi-arid regions of India

Abstract

Studies on the genetic diversity and structure in endangered and threatened species are of utmost importance to design and promote effective conservation and management programs. Ephedra foliata, an endemic and threatened species growing naturally in arid and semi-arid regions of north western India, was investigated to estimate genetic variability and population structure using intersimple sequence repeats (ISSR) and directed amplification of mini-satellite DNA (DAMD) markers. Twenty-five (ISSR 15; DAMD 10) markers produced 449 fragments, of which 382 were polymorphic in nature, revealing 84.59% polymorphism. ISSR markers revealed higher levels of polymorphism, polymorphic information content, marker index, diversity index and effective multiplex ratio than DAMD markers. Higher values of polymorphism, genetic diversity and Shannon information index at species level than at population level revealed that E. foliata possess high genetic diversity. AMOVA revealed much higher variance within populations than among the populations. The three clustering approaches viz., UPGMA, PCoA, and STRUCTURE, grouped the eleven investigated populations into two clusters revealing two genetic populations and the patterns of clustering of populations was in accordance with their geographic distribution, suggesting that these populations have evolved in response to their local environments. The high level of genetic differentiation (G ST = 0.31) and moderate gene flow (N m = 1.11) among populations could be due to geographic isolation, regional climatic conditions, over-exploitation and improper seed setting. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first endeavour to estimate genetic diversity and population structure of E. foliata using molecular markers.

Assessment of genetic stability on in vitro and ex vitro plants of Ficus carica var. black jack using ISSR and DAMD markers

“…Such changes occurring on the DNA sequences can be easily expressed in PCR analysis which is known as polymorphism. DNA analysis using markers such as RAPD, SSR, ISSR, and DAMD is very commonly used for the detection of polymorphism occurring in any plant species (Devi et al 2014;Singh et al 2014;Meena et al 2019). Genetic diversity was studied for different varieties of date palm using ISSR and DAMD markers.…”

“…Techniques which utilise single primers to amplify the DNA in PCR reactions are generally applicable universally (Zoghlami et al 2012;Lamare and Rao, 2015;Baghel and Bansal, 2017;Rohela et al 2019). The use of ISSR and DAMD markers has proven to be unbiased and cost-effective as compared with the RAPD markers (Singh et al 2014;Purayil et al 2018;Meena et al 2019). Consequently, the present study uses ISSR and DAMD markers to evaluate the genetic stability of the regenerated multiple shoots, mother plant and ex vitro acclimatised plants of Ficus carica var.…”

A Review on Worldwide Ephedra History and Story: From Fossils to Natural Products Mass Spectroscopy Characterization and Biopharmacotherapy Potential

“…Macrofossils of female cones were found in the Early Cretaceous of South America [73,74], Mongolia [75,76], and adjacent Northeast China [60,[77][78][79][80]. Early Ephedra might have transformed bracts of female cones into vivid color to assist seed dispersal by birds, wind, or seed-caching rodents resulting in a wide intercontinental distribution [59,81,82].…”

Interpol review of controlled substances 2016–2019

“…Ephedra: 2016 HPLC analysis of Ephedra major [ 569 ]; GC-MS analysis to determine chemical composition of the essential oil and various extracts of Ephedra alata alenda [ 570 ]; characterization of Ephedra sinica Stapf [ 571 ]; extraction of NDGA from Ephedra followed by HPLC analysis [ 572 ]; GC-MS-based plant metabolomics to investigate the chemical differences between Mahuang (the stems of Ephedra sinica) and Mahuanggen (the roots of Ephedra sinica) [ 573 , 574 ]; UHPLC-MS/MS method to measure ephedra in the herbal preparation Ma-Xing-Gan-Shi-Tang [ 575 ]; direct ionization-MS for identification of medicinal Ephedrae Herba (Ephedra sinica, Ephedra intermedia, and Ephedra equisetina) [ 576 ]; 2017 characterization of phenolic constituents from ephedra herb extract [ 577 ]; determination of ephedra alkaloids (ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, norephedrine, norpsuedoephedrine, methylephedrine, and synephrine) from dietary supplements using strong cation-exchange SPE cartridges for isolation of the compounds [ 578 ]; 2018 use of N-methyltransferase from Ephedra sinica to catalyze the formation of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine [ 579 ]; HPLC to determine ephedra alkaloids in powder products [ 580 ]; HPLC-UV method for the determination of Ephedra intermedia, Rheum palmatum, and Lithospermum erythrorhizon [ 581 ]; discrimination of three Ephedra species and their geographical origins based on multi-element fingerprinting by ICP-MS [ 582 ]; determination of the content of Ephedra alkaloids, namely ephedrine, methylephedrine, norpseudoephedrine, pseudoephedrine and norephedrine by HPLC [ 580 ]; determination of the Herbal Composition of Ephedra intermedia, Rheum palmatum, and Lithospermum erythrorhizon by HPLC-UV [ 581 ]; 2019 identification and phylogenetic analysis of three Ephedra herbs [ 583 ]; development of a set of microsatellite markers for genetic monitoring and surveying of Ephedra [ 584 ]; molecular analysis of genetic diversity and population genetic structure in Ephedra [ 585 ]; phytochemically characterization of Ephedra data Decne. by LC-DAD-ESI-MSn [ 586 ].…”