Evaluation of morphological and biochemical traits of wild primrose (Dionysia revolute) in north of Iran under the influence of ecological factor of altitude

Environmental factors are the most important factors affecting morphological traits and expression of chemical synthesizing genes. Wild primrose has compounds such as calicillin, benzabolol, quinolone, thymol and is traditionally used to treat gastrointestinal and infectious wounds. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of differences in elevation level in Mazandaran province (Azni area with a height of 1035 meters and the Kasoot area with a height of 481 meters) on the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of wild primrose. The studied phytochemical traits included total phenol content, total flavonoid, antioxidant capacity of samples using DPPH as well as chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and total chlorophyll content. Also, morphological traits including leaf length, leaf width, root length, pedicel length, petiole length, and number of leaf were measured at the site of plant growth. Results showed that with increasing altitude in Azni site, leaf area, leaf width, petiole length, and pedicel length decreased compared to Kasoot region. But the plants in Azni region had longer roots and more leaves. On the other hand, the plants in Azni had higher leaf and flower flavonoid contents and their total phenol contents were more than those in Kasoot area. But considering the antioxidants and photosynthetic pigments, plants in Kasoot had significantly higher contents. In general, morphological traits decreased with increasing altitude while biochemical properties such as phenol and flavonoids increased.