Variability in Eremanthus erythropappus (DC) MacLeish clones revealed by morphological and molecular markers

This study aimed to evaluate the genetic variability of Eremanthus erythropappus clones using morphological and molecular markers. Seventeen clones at 20 months of age were analyzed for eight morphological characteristics (leaf margin shape, leaf area, leaf length and width, petiole length, leaf apex and base and branch insertion angle on the main stem) and nine inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) primers. Four distinct groups were observed for the morphological characteristics according to the Mahalanobis distance matrix, and six distinct groups were formed based on the Jaccard coefficient for the molecular markers. Furthermore, the variability was evidenced by the statistical significance of all morphological characters, especially in relation to the size and shape of the leaves, with emphasis on the leaf blade width (LW) (ranging from 3.34 to 5.64 cm) and the margins leaves (entire: 64.7%, wavy: 23.5%, dentate: 11.8%). The molecular markers showed a high percentage of polymorphic bands (PPB = 72.72%). However, genetic diversity was low, based on the Nei (H* = 0.23) and Shannon (I* = 0.35) indices. Entanglement analysis revealed moderate associations among clusters, with consistency between pairs of clones that remained linked or within the same cluster in both dendrograms. These results provide important insights for future strategies aimed at improving the species, focusing on maintenance and genetic gains.