TAXONOMIC RELATIONSHIPS OF SOME SPECIES OF OROBANCHE L. EVIDENCE FROM RAPD-PCR AND ISSR MARKERS

The taxonomic relationships among 25 samples representing nine species of Orobanche L. (Orobanchaceae) were determined by the analysis of morphological characters and molecular polymorphism using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR). In order to construct dendrogram elucidating the relationships among the examined taxa, the coded data were analyzed using the software package NTSYS-pc 2.1 based on the Neighborjoining (NJ) tree building method based on a distance matrix. The aim of this study is to develop taxonomic relationship based on morphological and molecular data, in order to obtain a more reliable taxonomic relationship of Orobanche species under study. The dendrogram produced by the analysis of the molecular data (RAPD and ISSR) resembled that constructed by NJ dendrogram for the morphological variation. The studied taxa were separated in two groups, the first comprised of the five species of section Trionychon (O. purpurea, O. lavandulacea, O. ramosa, O. mutelii and O. aegyptiaca) and the second comprised of the four species of section Orobanche (O. cernua, O. crenata, O. minor and O. pubescens). High similarity was detected between O. pubescens and O. minor. The results confirmed the close relationship between O. ramosa and O. mutelii. Moreover, this study demonstrated the grouping of the studied taxa in most cases by geographically isolated population.