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Stachys lavandulifolia Vahl. (Lamiaceae) is an important medicinal plant that grows in different parts of Iran and forms many geographical populations. We have no information on its population genetic structure, genetic diversity, and morphological variability in Iran. Therefore, we planned a genetic and morphological investigation in St. lavandulifolia geographical populations in Iran. The obtained data are important for conservation and germplasm management of this medicinal plant species. Seventy-four plants were randomly collected from 14 geographical populations and studied for genetic diversity (ISSR molecular markers) and morphological variability. The highest value for gene diversity occurred in populations 1 and 4 (0.133 and 0.129, respectively). The latitude and altitude were positively correlated with gene diversity and genetic polymorphism while longitude was negatively correlated with them. The Mantel test showed correlation between genetic distance and geographical distance. AMOVA revealed a significant genetic difference among populations and showed that 58% of total genetic variation was due to within-population diversity. The STRUCTURE analysis and K-Means clustering identified two gene pools for St. lavandulifolia. The consensus tree of both molecular and morphological data identified divergent populations.

The genus Lallemantia Fisch. & C. A. Mey. (Family Lamiaceae) is a small genus with only five species that are herbaceous annual or biennial plants with food and medicinal value. This genus is of Caucasian origin and contains 5 species in Iran. The aims of the present study were: 1-to examine the occurrence of phylogenetic conflict between nuclear (ribosome ITS), nuclear repetitive sequences (ISSRs) and plastid (rps16 intron, cp) sequences in the genus Lallemantia (Lamiaceae), 2-to investigate the occurrence of inter-specific hybridization in this genus, and 3-to compare the time of divergence of the species from the basal line by ITS and cp-DNA molecular data. This is the first analysis on these evolutionary aspects of the genus Lallemantia. We provided the first molecular evidence for the occurrence of inter-specific hybridization in the genus Lallemantia and illustrated that phylogenetic signals in cp-DNA and ITS sequences differ significantly.

The genusCrocusL. (Iridaceae) is monophyletic and contains about 100 species throughout the world.Crocusspecies have horticultural, medicinal and pharmacological importance. Saffron is the dried styles ofC. sativusand is one of the world’s most expensive spices by weight. Controversy exits about the taxonomy of the genus and the species relationship. Exploring genetic diversity and inter-specific cross-ability are important tasks for conservation of wild taxa and for breeding of cultivatedC. sativus. The present study was performed to study genetic variability and population structure in fiveCrocusL. species includingCrocus almehensisBrickell & Mathew,C. caspiusFischer & Meyer,C. speciosusMarschall von Biberstein,C. haussknechtiiBoissier, andC. sativusL. by inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) molecular markers. We also used published internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences to study species relationship and compare the results with ISSR data. The results revealed a high degree of genetic variability both within and among the studied species. Neighbor joining (NJ) tree and network analysis revealed that ISSR markers are useful inCrocusspecies delimitation. Population fragmentation occurred inC. caspiusandC. sativus. Both ISSR and sequenced based analyses separatedC. sativusfrom the other studied species. Close genetic affinity ofC. sativusandC. pallisiiand inter-specific gene flow was supported by both data sets.