Comparison of three Polygonatum species from Poland based on DNA markers

Abstract

Four categories of DNA markers were used to determine genetic similarity of three species of Polygonatum, i.e. P. multiflorum, P. odoratum and P. verticillatum, occurring in Poland. Four populations per species, represented by ten plants per population, were collected in north-eastern Poland. In this study 111 RAPD and 35 semi-random ISJ markers were detected. Moreover the application of primers complementary to bacterial sequences IS6110 and katG gene enabled the detection of 9 and 34 markers, respectively. Each of the four marker categories gave species-specific bands. The highest conservativeness was observed for sequences of the katG gene. The degree of genetic similarity between P. multiflorum and P. odoratum was 0.57, and between these taxa and P. verticillatum 0.40 and 0.37, respectively. Most of the primers applied in the study enabled molecular species identification, and three of them turned out to be section-specific markers. The taxa showed no considerable intraspecific diversity, and the populations of P. verticillatum were almost identical. The results are consistent with the commonly accepted division of the genus Polygonatum into sections Polygonatum and Verticillata.