Genetic structure and diversity ofTriticum monococcumssp.aegilopoidesandT. urartuin Iran

Abstract

To preliminarily evaluate the genetic diversity of the Iranian diploidTriticumL. gene pool, in this study, a total of 176 individuals belonging toT. monococcumL. ssp.aegilopoides(Link) Thell. andT. urartuThum. ex Gandil. were pre-screened using single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of theAcc-1andPgk-1loci. A selected set of 76 DNA samples corresponding to the observed SSCP variants were sequenced for both loci and evaluated for nucleotide diversity associated with the taxonomic groups and geographical regions. We found three haplotypes, including one that was new for Iran, at each locus. Population structure and analysis of molecular variation results proved that the collection evaluated could be genetically divided into two distinct groups, which to a great extent was in accordance with the taxonomic classification. A genetic leakage fromT. monococcumssp.aegilopoidesintoT. urartuwas observed during structure analysis, which was inferred on the basis of occasional outcrossing, despite their inbreeding nature. The results revealed that there was no variation within the populations belonging toT. urartu, while a meaningful variation was found between the geographical regions forT. monococcumssp.aegilopoides. The median-joining networks revealed a conflict between morphology and haplotype variation, which was interpreted on the basis of introgressive hybridization, recombination signature and rapid speciation. In conclusion, we suggest that SSCP analysis is a useful tool in regions where thorough sequencing of an enormous number of DNA samples is time consuming and not affordable.

Molecular diversity and landscape genomics of the crop wild relative Triticum urartu across the Fertile Crescent

“…The outgroup samples may be contributed by ex situ erroneous taxonomic assignment or by hybridization events. Triticum urartu can cross with T. monococcum, producing fertile progeny (Baum and Bailey, 2013;Fricano et al, 2014;Nasernakhaei et al, 2015), and the diversity of these samples may indeed reflect such occurrence in our collection. Previous studies considering smaller collections and using less advanced molecular markers have already reported high variability among T. urartu natural accessions (Castagna et al, 1997;Mizumoto et al, 2002;Wang et al, 2017); however, this is the first time that a genomic approach has been used to characterize a collection representative of the whole geographic distribution of T. urartu.…”

Monitoring Drought Tolerance in Oil Palm: Choline Monooxygenase as a Novel Molecular Marker

“…SSCP is a widely used method for detecting DNA polymorphisms after amplification with polymerase chain reaction (PCR), especially for identifying point mutations or single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within a DNA fragment [2]. Its precision, ease of execution in basic laboratory settings, and cost and time efficiency have led to its extensive application in mutation detection and identification across various organisms [3][4][5][6]. The gene of interest, Choline monooxygenase (CMO), belongs to the compatible organic solute group and plays a role in glycine betaine synthesis, a substance produced by plants in response to stress from salinity and drought [7].…”