Species delimitation and genetic diversity analysis in Salvia with the use of ISSR molecular markers

Thirty-nine plant specimens of six Salvia species were collected from different localities of the Alborz mountain region in Iran and studied for morphological and genetic variability and species relationship. Inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR) molecular markers showed a high degree of within-species and interspecific genetic variability in Salvia. Analysis of molecular variance and Hickory tests showed significant molecular difference among the studied populations. A principal coordinate analysis plot of morphological characters grouped the species into two distinct groups, supporting their taxonomic treatment. This was partly supported by ISSR networking. The Mantel test did not show a correlation between genetic distance and the geographical distance of the studied populations. STRUCTURE and reticulation analyses revealed some degree of gene flow among the species. The present study showed that ISSR molecular markers could be used in Salvia species delimitation along with morphological study.