Histological and cellular changes in populations of Nepeta heliotropifolia in Iran

Aim: One of the most important infraspecific variations is differences of tissues and cells in plant that occur between various populations of the same species for adaption with environmental factors. These variations can be consider as a starter for speciation.
Material and In the present study, leaf anatomical traits of four Nepeta heliotropifolia populationswere examine. Three flowering stems were collected from each population, and from each stem a mature intact leaf was elected. Leaves were fixed in fixative and then transferred to ethanol. Hand sections were decolorized, double stained and their anatomical structure were studied using light microscopy. The MVSP and SPSS soft wares were used for statistical analyses.
In total, twenty two qualitative and quantitative anatomical characteristics were studied. Qualitative features were stable between populations, while ANOVA test showed significant differences for most of the studied variables. In addition, significant correlations were found between morphological characters with each other and ecological factors of habitats. The studied populations clustered separately in UPGMA tree, PCA and PCO plots.
Environmental factors have effects on tissues and cells of plant and create infraspecific variations. They have more effects on quantitative variables compared with qualitative ones. Leaf anatomical variations of populations have no relationship with distances between the populations, but similarity or difference of ecological factors is a very important factor in creating similarity or difference between populations. The pattern of population’s arrangement in the created tree and plots approved it.