Integrating morphological characters, molecular markers, and distribution patterns to assess the identity of Blepharis species from Jordan.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Blepharis constitutes an important part of the vegetation of the Jordanian arid and semi-arid regions, yet whether one or more species of this genus occurs in the Jordanian area is uncertain. We addressed this question by assessing morphological characters and testing Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) markers from three populations of Blepharis: two northern (lower slopes of Kufranjah valley and the Dead Sea region) and one southern (Wadi al Yutm).

Results

Shoots from randomly chosen Blepharis plants were harvested from each of the three populations for morphological and molecular analyses. In the northern populations, spikes were lax and bract width was significantly shorter than length of the longest lateral spine compared to the southern population. A multiva

SUBMITTER: Muhaidat R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6060189 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature