Genetic diversity of selected Apocynaceae species based on chloroplast gene rps11

Apocynaceae is an important family due to its credible therapeutic importance and it is widely distributed in tropics and subtropics. Some species of Apocynaceae have been randomly chosen from different regions of Pakistan for the present study. The main objective was to analyze genetic diversity among seven species using cleaved amplified polymorphic sequences (CAPS) technique on a plastid gene encoding ribosomal protein of smaller subunit 11 (rps11). For this purpose, DNA was extracted from young leaves and with the help of a pair of primer, rps11 gene was amplified and seven restriction enzymes namely: TscAI, ScrfI, DpnI, BsiKHAI, MseI, HinfI, BseGI were used to digest the amplified rps11 gene. The results produced were in the form of bands on gels revealing the length of fragments produced after cutting with restriction enzymes. The digested fragments were found to produce monomorphic bands whereas some polymorphic bands were also observed. On the basis of restricted fragments, phylogenetic tree was prepared depicting different number of clusters with varied level of similarity coefficients. It was observed that the species have shown mixed pattern and closely related species appeared at higher genetic distances. It can be concluded from the results that CAPS on rps11 gene could be used as a useful source for phylogenetic analysis among the family Apocynaceae.