BackgroundIn the present investigation, two genera of family Labiatae (genus Origanum and genus Thymus including their available species in Egypt) were analyzed genetically on DNA level using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. Four selective primer combinations (E-AGC/M-CAA, E-AGC/M-CAC, E-AGG/M-CTC, and E-ACC/M-CAT) were used to detect genetic variations (polymorphisms) within and between the studied plant species of each genus and with their cultivated relatives.ResultsA total of 193 amplified fragments were obtained overall primer combinations with a disparity in the number of bands for each primer combination. The primer combination E-AGG/M-CTC exhibited a large number of amplicons (67) compared to the other primers with polymorphism percentage 69%. The polymorphism information content (PIC) was calculated for the four primer combinations showing a very high values ranging between 0.98 and 0.99. On the other hand, Thymus species (Thymus vulgaris, Thymus capitatus L., and Thymus decassatus Benth.) exhibited a total number of 171 amplicons for all primer combinations with an average of 42 bands. The primer combination E-AGG/M-CTC produced the largest number of bands (62 bands) with polymorphism percentage 35%, even though the primer combination AGC/M-CAA was more efficient to give high polymorphisms within Thymus species where it resulted in a total of 35 bands with polymorphism percentage 63%. The PIC values were calculated ranging from 0.96 to 0.99.ConclusionOne can conclude that AFLP technique was informative and efficient technique to give a good coverage of Origanum and Thymus genomes. Furthermore, it was helpful to elucidate the genetic variations and phylogenetic relationships within the studied species as a basis for further studies on these genera and related species.

Mangroves are well-adapted halophytes that thrive in coastal saline environments. They live under difficult environmental conditions, such as high light intensity and external salt concentrations, as well as low-oxygen environments, such as water-logged muck, that are typically inappropriate for the survival of other plants. Salinity is a major abiotic factor that affects plant growth, productivity, and dispersal in tropical and semitropical intertidal areas. Furthermore, it affects approximately 20% of all cultivable land and 50% of all irrigated land on the planet. Mangroves have developed a sophisticated salt filtration mechanism and a complicated root structure to withstand salty water exposure and tidal movement. The expression patterns of five salt tolerance genes (amFer1, amDhna, amSod1, amCat1, and amUbc2) in the Egyptian gray mangrove (Avicennia marina Forssk.) grown under different environmental conditions in South Sinai protectorates (Nabq, Ras Mohamed, Safaga, and Wadi El-Gemal), Egypt, were investigated in this study. This study aimed to assess and examine the genetic behavior of mangroves in response to salinity by using quantitative real-time PCR. Findings revealed differences in the expression patterns of the investigated genes under various conditions, showing that salinity influences plant genetic response. Ferritin gene expression was high in all locations, indicating that ferritin represents an essential component of the mangrove response mechanisms.

Background: Species of Astragalus have been used medicinally for more than a thousand years. Astragalus spinosus (Forssk.) Muschl. extract has been used in the treatment of various diseases. Despite its numerous and varied uses, studies on the genetic makeup of Egyptian A. spinosus are lacking. Therefore, the current study was conducted to generate a molecular fingerprint for this species in two successive growth periods which will be used to recognize, record, and act as a molecular reference for future research. Method: Astragalus spinosus samples were collected from El-Hawala region of Marsa-Matrouh, Egypt's North Coast and subjected to molecular analyses using the amplified fragment length polymorphism technique (AFLP) with four primer combinations. Results: Our results revealed minute variations among A. spinosus samples regardless of different collecting periods. Conclusions: The current work confirmed the accuracy and reliability of the AFLP technique in constructing an accurate genomic picture of the investigated plant.

INTRODUCTION Environmental stress, such as low temperature, high temperature, high salinity, and drought restrict the distribution and productivity of plants. When subject to salt stress or drought, some vascular plants typically respond with increased accumulation of proline and glycine betaine, an important osmoprotectant that is produced in response to salt and other osmotic stresses Zhou et al., (2008). (Abd El-Maboud and Khalil 2013) detected an increase of glycine betaine and proline in Suaeda fruticosa and S. vera under salinity and drought stress. In higher plants, proline is synthesized from glutamate or arginine /ornithineIn higher plants, P5CS is encoded by a nuclear gene from Vigna aconitifolia (Hu et al., 1992), Arabidopsis thaliana (Strizhov et al., 1997), Glycine max and Lactuca sativa (Porcel et al., 2004) and other species. The last step in betaine synthesis in plants is catalyzed by betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase (BADH), a nuclearencoded chloroplastic enzyme. To date, BADHs have been isolated from several species, viz spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) (Shirasawa et al., 2006), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) (Nakamura et al., 2001) and mangrove (Avicennia marina) (Wu et al., 2008). The Dehydration-responsive element-binding proteins (DREBs) are members of the APETALA2/ethylene-responsive element-binding factor (AP2/ERF) family of transcription factors in the promoters of stress-inducible genes (Yamaguchi and Shinozaki 2006). Genes included in the DREB subfamily are divided into six small subgroups (A-1 to A-6) based on similarities in the binding domain. DREB from Salicornia brachiata was induced by NaCl, drought, and heat stress (Gupta et al., 2014). In the present study, three identified drought-responsive genes were detected in two Suaeda species in order to clarify their role in plant resistance.

Medicinal plants have served as the basis of alternative medicine and have become the primary source for developing new medications. Astragalus spinosus (Forssk.) Muschl. belongs to family Fabaceae and due to its active constituent’s composition, it is used traditionally to treat various ailments. Additionally, various Astragalus-based dietary supplements were sold for supporting immunity and cardiovascular system. Therefore, authentication of the medicinal plant material is important and vital to provide an extensive database with DNA data for easy identification, adulteration detection and conservation of genetic resources. In the current study, three partial chloroplast coding genes were examined in A.spinosus; ribulose 1,5biphosphate carboxylase large subunit (rbcL), RNA polymerase (rpoC1) and maturase K (matK). When compared to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database, the results showed that rbcL was successful in identifying and discriminating A.spinosus at the genus and species levels. The, rpoC1 and matK genes revealed a high level of identity with Astragalus species, indicating that they are capable of identifying A.spinosus at the genus level. Phylogenetic trees were established based on the expected amino acids sequence of each coding gene, demonstrating the extent of relatedness with recorded plant species in the NCBI database.