Genetic diversity and volatile oil components variation in Achillea fragrantissima wild accessions and their regenerated genotypes

Abstract

Background Wild medicinal plants are suffering natural environmental stresses and habitat destruction. The genetic diversity evaluation of wild accessions and their in vitro raised genotypes using molecular markers, as well as the estimation of substances of pharmaceutical value in wild plants and their regenerated genotypes are convenient approaches to test the genetic fidelity of regenerated plants as a source of substances of pharmaceutical value. In this study, the genetic diversity of 12 accessions of the medicinal plant Achillea fragrantissima, representing five sites in the mountains of South Sinai, Egypt, were estimated by the inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR) fingerprinting and their volatile oil components were identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. The same accessions were regenerated in vitro and the genetic diversity and volatile oil components of propagated genotypes were determined and compared to their wild parents. Results Clustering and principal component analyses indicated that the wild accessions and their regenerated genotypes were genetically differentiated, but the regenerated plants are relatively more diverse compared to their wild parents. However, genetic variation between wild accessions is inherited to their in vitro propagated genotypes indicating genotypic differentiation of the examined accessions. The number of volatile oil compounds in the wild A. fragrantissima accessions was 31 compounds while in the in vitro propagated plants only 24 compounds were detected. Four major compounds are common to both wild and regenerated plants; these are artemisia ketone, alpha-thujone, dodecane, and piperitone. Conclusions Genome profiling and essential oil components analysis showed variations in A. fragrantissima accessions from different populations. Genetic differences between wild and regenerated genotypes were analyzed and validated with the final conclusion that in vitro conditions elicited higher genetic variation that is associated with reduced amount and diversity in the essential oil components.

Variability in the Essential Oil Composition ofAchillea erba‐rottasubsp.moschata(Wulfen) I. Richardson Growing in the Eastern Italian Alps

“…Most of the main compounds we found in A. moschata , were also previously identified as the major components in the essential oil extracted from different species of the genus Achillea L., including cis and trans‐ thujones, [35–39] camphor, [28,32–33,38,40–43] and 1,8‐cineole [28,32,36,40,42,43] …”

Chemical Diversity of Essential Oils from Korean Native Populations of Agastache rugosa (Korean Mint)

“…Hence, the data may reflect the genetic diversity within the species. It was reported that genetic diversity within the species plays a major role in essential oil compositions and concentrations [ 21 , 22 , 23 ]. Kang et al [ 24 ] studied the genetic diversity of 65 accessions of A. rugosa germplasms using inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers.…”

“…Multivariate data analysis has been used for the numerical taxonomic classification of plants based on their phenotypic, chemical, and molecular features. In particular, PCA and cluster analyses have been performed on the basis of the essential oil components in plants [ 11 , 23 , 28 ]. PCA was used to determine the variability in the chemical composition of essential oils obtained from 90 individuals of A. rugosa seeds collected from different regions of Korea.…”

“…Previous studies demonstrated that various edaphic and ecological factors influenced the essential oil yield and their chemical components in aromatic plants [ 23 , 32 , 33 ]. In the present study, the statistical analysis results suggest that the essential oil components are predominantly determined by the plant’s genotype, because all collected seeds were cultivated under similar environmental conditions.…”

Variations in the Chemical Composition of Essential Oils in Native Populations of Korean Thyme, Thymus quinquecostatus Celak.

“…Rustaiee et al [ 31 ] found genetic diversity and variations in the essential oil compositions of six Thymus species. Previous studies suggested that genetic diversity at the intraspecific level plays a crucial role in the composition of essential oils and their concentrations [ 32 , 33 , 34 ]. In addition, Choi et al [ 35 ] suggested that harvesting time highly influenced the quality of thyme essential oils, and revealed that the essential oil content was found to be higher during the flowering period.…”