Transferability of barley retrotransposon primers to analyze geneticstructure in Iranian Hypericum perforatum L. populations

Transferability of barley retrotransposon primers was investigated to analyze population structure in St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) based on inter-retrotransposon amplified polymorphism (IRAP). Seven long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposon primers derived from the barley genome were used to detect genetic polymorphism in eight Iranian populations and three cultivars (Helos, New Stem, and Topaz) of H. Perforatum based on IRAP analysis. Nine possible LTR primers/primer combinations successfully amplified fragments from the H. Perforatum genome. In total, 311 bands of 100-3000 base pairs were amplified, of which 244 were polymorphic. The number of polymorphic fragments ranged from 10 (Nikita/5'LTR-2) to 57 (3'LTR), with an average of 27.11. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) could clearly differentiate samples of wild populations and cultivars. Based on analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), among populations variance explained 58% of total molecular variation. This study demonstrates that IRAP markers can be utilized not only to determine the relationships of Hypericum populations and cultivars, but also as a tool for selection of suitable populations for breeding programs.