Biologia 65/5: 796—804, 2010 Section Botany DOI: 10.2478/s11756-010-0086-7 Molecular and ecological study of Eryngium species in Syria Dana Jawdat*, Hussam Al-Faoury, Zuhair Ayyoubi & Bassam Al-Safadi Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Atomic Energy Commission of Syria. P.O. Box 6091, Damascus, Syria; e-mail: scientifi[email protected] Abstract: Eryngium L. species growing in Syria were characterized using morphological, geographical and molecular analyses (IRAP and RAPD). Eight Eryngium L. species have been determined to exist in Syria. E. glomeratum, E. campestre and E. falcatum were found to grow in the mountain regions. E. creticum and E. desertorum were found to grow in variant environments: mountains, semidesert and saline environments, which indicate their wide range of adaptation and tolerance to abiotic stresses. E. maritimum was the only species found to grow on the coastal sandy beaches suggesting that it is adapted to sandy, saline and humid environments. The two PCR-based techniques showed that E. pussilum and E. billardieri were the most distal to all other species. E. pussilum is found to grow in Leftaya region, which is a swamps area similar to the typical habitat for American Eryngiums. The most related species were E. glomeratum and E. campestre, which were mainly found in mountainous regions, followed by E. desertorum, E. falcatum,andE. creticum. Key words: Eryngium; IRAP; RAPD Introduction been conducted in several parts of the world (Claus- ing et al. 2000; Gadeul et al. 2000; Andrada et al. The genus Eryngium represents a wide range of species 2001). The Old World of Eryngium L. species that grow adapted to harsh environmental conditions such as mostly in regions with a Mediterranean type climate drought, salinity and non-optimal temperatures in what have been investigated by W¨orz (2004). According to is categorized as abiotic stresses. Syria, located in the W¨orz (2004), there are two centers of diversity: one in Eastern Mediterranean region, is well known for its di- the Western Mediterranean (Iberian Peninsula, Mor- verse environmental conditions besides the fact that it rocco) and the other one in South-West Asia. is considered as a center of origin, and biodiversity (Zo- Eryngium L. species in Syria offer a rich source of hary 1962, 1973) for many crops and fruit trees (wheat, genetic material regarding the adaptation to extreme barley, lentil, chickpea, olive, almond, pear, plum, Pis- environmental conditions and show great potential as tachio, ect). It is estimated that the Syrian flora in- medicinal plants. Investigating such species provides cludes about 3150 species arranged in 919 genuses in great source of genetic information regarding adapta- 133 families (Barkoudah et al. 2000). tion to harsh environments. This paper aims to investi- Many studies have been carried out to investi- gate the geographical distribution, morphological char- gate the genus Eryngium L. (Apiaceae-subfamily San- acterization and the phylogeny of Eryngium L. species iculoideae) (O’Leary et al. 2004; W¨orz 2004; Clausing in Syria. The current work stamps Eryngium L. species et al. 2000; Gaudeul et al. 2000). The genus includes in Syria on the geographical distribution map of Eryn- about 250 species in Eurasia, North Africa, North and gium species in the world and enriches the molecular South America and Australia (Pimenov & Leonov 1993; data available currently in the literature. reviewed in W¨orz 2004). Eryngium L. species are known for their impor- tance in the field of medicinal plants research. Species Material and methods such as E. expansum, E. pandanifolium, E. rostratum, E. vesiculosum (Brophy et al. 2003) and E. bourgatii Regions of collection (Pala-Paul et al. 2005) have been studied to assess es- Plants of the family Apiaceae, that belong to the genus sential oils. Other Eryngium L. species have been stud- Eryngium, were collected during the growing season in 2006 ied to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and antinocicep- from road and field sides in central, Northern, Southern, tive activity (Kupeli et al. 2006). Western, and coastal regions of Syria (Fig. 1). The main Genetic variation studies of Eryngium have also collection sites are summarized in Table 1. * Corresponding author c 2010 Institute of Botany, Slovak Academy of Sciences Molecular and ecological study of Eryngium species in Syria 797 Table 1. Collection sites information and observed Eryngium L. species along with major plant genera. Collection site Location Altitude (m) Rainfall (mm) Major plant genera Eryngium species 1– Abdul Aziz mountain North East 900 450 Crataegus, Pinus, E. creticum Echium, Hordium, E. desertorum Sinapis 2 – Raka North Center 650 450 Convolvulus, Anchusa, E. creticum Solanum, Astragalus, E. desertorum Alyssum 3 – Aljaboul North West 650 250–300 Tamarix, Frankena, E. creticum Artimisia, Phragmites, E. desertorum Peganum 4 – Arab Al-shateh North West Sea shores 1000 Plantago, Euphorbia, E. maritimum Kakile, Pancratum, 5 – Slunfa West 1800 1000 Quercus, Juniperus, E. falcatum Cedrus, Ruscus, Vi- E. creticum brum 6– Leftaya West Center 200 800 Taraxacum, Anthemis, E. pussilum Geranium pharagmi- E. creticum ties urginia 7 – Palmyra Center 750 170 Cotandia, Trigonel la, E. creticum Peganum, Achillea, E. desertorum Alhagi 8 – Hush Arab South West 1300 450 Crataegus, Pronus, E. creticum Anagalis, Cardaria, E. desertorum Euphorbia 9 – Surghaya South West 1300–1400 600 Crataegus, Pronus, E. creticum E. Malva, Aegilops, Tri- glomeratum folium E. campestre 10 – Erna South West 1100 650 Morus, Crataegus, E. creticum Pronus, Ferula, Cen- E. billardieri tauria 11 – Aldumeer Center 750 120 Diplotaxis, Ono- E. desertorum brychis, Alhagi, Achil- lea, Malva 12 – Bosra Al-hareer South 800 250 Echaballium, E. creticum Echinopis, Centhau- E. campestre ria, Sinapis, Bromus 13 – Sweida, Al-jabal South 1100 450 Carthamus, Trifolium, E. creticum Lamium, Centauria, E. desertorum Aegilops Seed collection and specimen sampling plants covered the following traits: plant height, morphol- Eight Eryngium L. species have been investigated for ogy of basal leaves, head diameter, number of bracts, seeds morphological characterization and molecular studies. The length and shape, type of branching and flowering period. species under study are: E. maritimum, E. creticum, E. de- Final species identification was determined using the fol- sertorum, E. glomeratum, E. campestre, E. billardieri, E. lowing references (W¨orz 2004; Pimenove and Leonov 1993; pussilum, E. falcatum. Twenty plants from each species were Mouterede 1983; Zohary 1973). characterized during May and July 2006 in the aforemen- tioned regions of collection. Seeds were collected during Au- Plant material and DNA Extraction gust and September of 2006. Total genomic DNA of collected plants was extracted from leaf material of each of the Eryngium L. species under study. Identification of plants DNA extraction was conducted following Leach et al (1986) The morphological characterization and identification of protocol. Total DNA concentration was detected by Spec- 798 D. Jawdat et al. 5 6 4 6 7 9 8 E. maritimum E. creticum E. desertorum 11 E. glomeratum 9 E. campestre 10 E. billardieri E. pussilum E. falcatum 10 12 Distribution of Eryngium L. species 13 in Syria Fig. 1. The distribution map of Eryngium L. species in the Syrian Arab Republic. Numbers correspond to collection sites (refer to Table 1). trophotometer (Gene quant, Amersham Biosciences, USA) reaction volumes, containing half volume of Bio-Rad super and the concentration was adjusted to 20 ng/µL. mix, 2.5 µM of each primer and 50 ng of DNA template. The cycle program included an initial 4 min denaturation step at Inter-retrotransposon amplified polymorphism (IRAP) pro- ◦ ◦ ◦ 94 C, followed by 45 cycles of 30 sec at 94 C, 60 sec at 36 C cedure ◦ and 90 sec at 72 C, and the program ends with a final ex- Nine IRAP primer combinations (Table 2) were synthe- ◦ tension at 72 C for 6 min. RAPD fragments were separated sized using the PolyGen DNA synthesizer (PolyGen DNA- electrophoretically on 1.5% agarose gels in 1X TAE buffer, Synthesizer, Germany), and the iCycler PCR machine stained with ethidium bromide (10mg/mL), and subjected (BIO-RAD, USA) was used for the amplification of total to a UV transilluminator using a (BIO-RAD Documenta- genomic DNA. The amplification reactions of total genomic tion System, USA.). Each primer was tested on the eight DNA were performed in 25µL reaction volumes, containing Eryngium L. samples and polymorphisms were compared. half volume of Bio-Rad super mix, 2.5 µM of each forward and reverse primers and 75 ng of DNA template. The cycle program included an initial 2 min denatu- Data analysis ration at 95 ◦C, followed by 35 cycles consisting of 1 min The presence or absence of each single fragment was coded at 95 ◦C, 1 min at 40.5 ◦Cor45◦C depending on the tested by 1 or 0, respectively. IRAP and RAPD data were clustered primer combination (Table 2) over which the annealing time ◦ and a dendograms based on percent disagreement values was increased 0.3 sec per cycle, and 2 min at 72 Cwitha ◦ (PDV) were generated using the Unweighted Pair Group of final extension at 72 C for 10 min. IRAP fragments were Arithmetic Means (UPGMA) available in STATISTICA 6.1 separated on 2.5% agarose gels in 1X TAE buffer, stained package (StatSoft, 2003). Bootstrap values were obtained with ethidium bromide (10 mg/mL) and subjected to a UV using PAST programme (1.94b version), available free on- transilluminator using a (BIO-RAD Documentation Sys- tem, USA.). Each primer combination was tested on the line (Hammer et al. 2001). eight Eryngium L. samples and polymorphisms were com- pared. Results RAPD procedure (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA) Morphological characterization Thirty nine RAPD primers (Table 3) from Operon Tech- Eryngium L. species investigated in the current study nologies, Inc (OP; Almeda, California, USA) and the Uni- versity of British Columbia (UBC; Vancouver, BC, Canada) were characterized morphologically by covering several were used for the amplification of total genomic DNA using traits: Plant height, type of basal leaves, stem branch- the iCycler PCR machine (BIO-RAD, USA).