Association study between some cultivated species and their wild relatives from Apiaceae, Asteraceae and Brassicaceae families based on molecular and DNA barcoding in Egypt

Genet Resour Crop Evol https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-023-01681-x RESEARCH ARTICLE Association study between some cultivated species and their wild relatives from Apiaceae, Asteraceae and Brassicaceae families based on molecular and DNA barcoding in Egypt Nerveen M. Essa · Amira A. Ibrahim Magda I. Soliman · Received: 19 June 2023 / Accepted: 7 July 2023 © The Author(s) 2023 Abstract Concerns about food security worldwide have been raised due to the adverse impacts of climate change on agricultural productivity. Utilizing wild relatives of cultivated plants in breeding schemes is a potential solution to address the abovementioned challenges. Wild relatives refer to indigenous plant species that share genetic ancestry with recently cultivated plants. The capacity of plants to withstand abiotic stresses and enhance crop yield stability in cold and arid environments renders them a valuable prospective resource for breeding programs. Molecular markers are employed to assess the genetic variability of cultivated plants and their wild relatives under investigation. This study employed a set of five primers derived from ISSR (Inter Simple Sequence Repeats) and SCoT (Start Codon Targeted) to assess comparative research between cultivated species and their wild relatives from three families: Apiaceae (Apium gravolens L., A. leptophyllum (Pers.) F.Muell., Daucus carota L.& D. litoralis Sm.), Asteraceae (Lactuca sativa L. & L. serriola L.) and Brassicaceae (B. oleracea L., Brassica tourneforttii Gouan., Raphanus sativus L. & R. raphanistrum L.). The ISSR technique yields approximately 206 bands, whereas the SCoT primers generate approximately 207 bands. The ISSR primers yielded 169 polymorphic bands, exhibiting a polymorphism rate of 82.04%, whereas the SCoT primers produced 169 polymorphic bands with a polymorphism rate of 81.64%. The Brassicaceae has been found to exhibit the highest resolving power (RP) of 48.25, as determined by ISSR. The primary objective of DNA barcoding is to create a communal database of DNA sequences that can be utilized to identify organisms and clarify their taxonomic classification. The findings indicate that the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions exhibit high efficacy as a DNA barcoding tool. Overall, the results obtained from two molecular markers and DNA barcoding analyses suggest a significant degree of genetic diversity and relatedness among the cultivated taxa and their wild relatives examined in this study. N. M. Essa · M. I. Soliman Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Mansoura University, Mansoura City 35516, Egypt Introduction A. A. Ibrahim (*) Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Arish University, Al‑Arish 45511, Egypt e-mail: Keyword Cultivated species · DNA barcoding · ISSR · Molecular marker · Resolving power · SCoT · Wild relatives The forthcoming century presents a significant obstacle for humankind, namely the production of sustainable, just, and hygienic food amidst worldwide environmental transformations such as climate change, Vol.: (0123456789) 13 Genet Resour Crop Evol escalating environmental contamination, and the deterioration of soil quality. Furthermore, climatic condition alterations have adversely impacted worldwide agricultural output (Singh and Abhilash 2018; Mponya et al. 2021). Therefore, utilizing versatile and climate-resilient cultivars in cultivation is imperative to fulfill the growing population’s increasing food requirements. The utilization of wild relatives of crop plants for arid and semi-arid climatic conditions is highly valuable due to their superior tolerance, adaptability, high nutritional value, wide range of ecosystem plasticity, and ability to cultivate with fewer external inputs such as pesticides and fertilizers and crop management than modern cultivars (Singh et al. 2018). Moreover, they have the potential to enhance soil quality and promote soil carbon sequestration, all while preserving invaluable natural resources. Utilizing a significant gene pool of untamed relatives of domesticated species is imperative in developing novel cultivars and modifying existing agricultural plants to enhance their adaptability, tolerance, yield, and nutritional content in response to anticipated climatic conditions. According to Whitney et al. (2018), Crop wild relatives (CWRs) are wild relatives of crops that are closely related and possess a range of beneficial agronomic, nutritional, and breeding efficiency characteristics that can be utilized for crop improvement purposes (Mezghani et al. 2019; Perrino and Wagensommer 2021). Crop Wild Relatives (CWR) refer to plant species that are naturally occurring and possess remarkable adaptability to harsh climatic conditions, nutrient-deficient soil, and strong resistance to pests and diseases. Additionally, research by Khoury et al. (2020) and Rocha et al. (2021) show that they confer advantageous characteristics for crop adaptation to current and projected agricultural challenges. Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) are deemed significant in crop improvement, with their constituent elements regarded as highly valuable (Maxted and Vincent 2021). Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA) are the plant genetic resources primarily associated with human food production in agriculture. According to FordLloyd et al. (2011) and Engels and Thormann (2020), plant genetic resources encompass the genetic variation present in domesticated plant species and their Vol:. (1234567890) 13 wild counterparts, which holds potential value for plant breeders. The preservation of genetic diversity is widely recognized as a fundamental prerequisite for the survival of plant species in their natural habitats and for advancing crop breeding programs. Plant breeders can develop novel and enhanced cultivars with desirable traits, including those that are highly esteemed by farmers and breeders ( high yield potential, large seed), owing to the wide-ranging genetic resources available in plants, such as pest and disease resistance, photosensitivity, and other attributes. Since the inception of agriculture, crop species have been utilized to fulfill subsistence food needs by harnessing natural genetic variability (Bhandari et al. 2017; Kumar et al. 2023). In contemporary times, molecular markers have gained popularity due to their imperviousness to environmental influences (Hasan et al. 2021 and EL-Mansy et al. 2021). Molecular markers have proven to be highly effective tools for investigating the genetic diversity of various plant species, particularly those that pose challenges to traditional classification methods (Payacan et al. 2017; Abd El-Moneim et al. 2021). Molecular markers are valuable in examining evolutionary relationships among various plant groups. According to Nadeem et al. (2018), molecular markers refer to genetic loci that can be conveniently monitored and measured within a population and may corr (...truncated)