Seed protein electrophoretic banding patterns in relation to morphological variations of selected Primula species (Primulaceae).

Abstract

Seed protein profiles produced by gel electrophoresis and the molecular mass in kilo-Dalton of their polypeptide subunits were recorded in 10 species of Primula, namely P. burmanica Balf. & King., P. denticulata Sm. , P. elatior Hill., P. frondosa Janka, P. hirsuta All., P. loeseneri Kitag., P. palinuri Petagn., P. prenantha Balf. & Sm., P. rosea Hort. & Pax. and P. veris Lehm. Phenetic relationships of these species were established based on UPGMA-clustering and principal component analyses (PCA) applied to the produced seed protein and the compiled morphological data separately and in combination by using different modules of the NTSYS-pc 2.2 and the STATISTICA 5.5 programs. The produced data were compared by measuring each of the trees distortion; from their relevant data matrices; and association to each other based on their cophenetic (ultrametric) correlation coefficients. Regression coefficients of each PC on the corresponding character were used to analyze the contributing characters in the differentiation of the groups. Comparison of the seed protein and morphological criteria revealed that, the two data sets were consistent with a percentage of 89% in differentiating the studied species. The present data were useful in confirming the close relationship between P. hirsuta and P. palinuri in spite of their variation in the somatic chromosome number; in revealing the possibility of merging P. denticulata and P. rosea in the same section; and in supporting the deviation of P. loeseneri and P. frondosa based on the variability in basic chromosome numbers.