Population genetic structure and gene flow in Alcea aucheri (Boiss.) Alef.: A potential medicinal plant

The genus Alcea, a member of Malvaceae family consists of approximately 75 species worldwide distributing mainly in South-West Asia. Among these, 33 species grow in Iran. Plants of the Alcea (or Althaea) are among important medicinal plants in Iranian traditional medicine. They have long been used in the treatment of health problems and diseases. Alcea aucheri (Boiss.) Alef. species are distributed in different habitats of Iran. There is no information on its population genetic structure, genetic diversity, and morphological variability in Iran. Therefore, due to the importance of these plant species, we performed a combination of morphological and molecular data for this species. For this study, we used 118 randomly collected plants from 10 geographical populations in 5 provinces. AMOVA test revealed significant genetic difference among the studied populations and also revealed that, 74% of total genetic variability was due to within population diversity while, 26% was due to among population genetic differentiation. Mantel test showed positive significant correlation between genetic distance and geographical distance of the studied populations. Networking, STRUCTURE analyses revealed some degree of gene flow among these populations.