Morphometric and Molecular Diversity in Some Species of the Genus Alopecurus L. in Iran

Morphometric and molecular studies were performed on the three species and two varieties of Alopecurus. Numerical taxonomic studies were performed on 14 populations using 37 morphological characters. Clustering and PCA ordination separated the species studied in different clusters. Factor analysis identified the most variable morphological characteristics to be used in Alopecurus species delimitation. Out of ten RAPD primers used, five primers produce 115 bands. Six bands were common to all three species while the other bands were polymorph. Some bands were specific to A. myosuroides, while some other bands were specific for A. textilis and may be considered as loci for discriminating between these two species. UPGMA clustering and PCO ordination of the Alopecurus species based on RAPD data showed the species distinctiveness supporting the morphological results. A. arundinaceus also showed greater similarity to A. myosuroides in its molecular characteristics indicating the use of RAPD data in Alopecurus species delimitation.