Molecular diversity of Sargassum populations from Persian Gulf Sea coasts

Sargassum is a brown alga in the coasts of warm waters of the world. In Iran this alga found in the coasts of Persian Gulf and Oman Sea. A little information is available from molecular variation of this genus because the genetic variability of this alga. In this study, sixteen populations of five species of Sargassum were analyzed with ISSR bands. These populations were collected from five localities of the Persian Gulf coasts in 2 seasons (autumn and winter) from 2018 to 2022. We performed clustering and ordination methods for molecular analysis. Also, genetic diversity parameters were measured for all populations. In UPGMA and PCOA analysis, the populations of different species separated into distinct clusters. Also, these analyses confirmed the classification of genus to sections. Coefficients of diversity were high for the most populations. The highest amount of diversity was seen in S. swatzii. Furthermore, specific bands were seen in this species.Significant genetic differences and some degree of gene exchange were seen among the studied populations. According to the Mantel test, the genetic diversity of the studied populations is related to geographical distance. In AMOVA test, 85% of total variation is attributed to among population differences. While 15% of total variation is related to within population variation.

Molecular diversity of Sargassum populations from Persian Gulf Sea coasts Keywords:

Sargassum , Persian Gulf , genetic variability , ISSR bands , UPGMA , PCOA , Mantel test