DNA barcoding of two narrow endemic plants; Astragalus argaeus and Astragalus stenosemioides from Mount Erciyes, Turkey.

Countries' genetic resources and biological variation are extremely valuable. Biodiversity and genetic resources, particularly for endemic species, should be protected. DNA barcoding studies are a useful for identifying unknown taxa and protecting a country's biodiversity. DNA barcodes are small segments of DNA that are taxonomically informative and can be used to for species identification. DNA barcodes have been used to associate life phases, determine cryptic species, and prohibit illegal commerce, among other things. Astragalus argaeus and A. stenosemioides are endemic plant species to Turkey's Mt. Erciyes. To distinguish these two endemic Astagalus, we used two DNA barcodes in the matK region. The current study used A. argaeus, A. stenosemioides, and 23 GenBank sequences of other relative in the genus Astragalus, including one from a closely related species, to infer phylogenetic relationships and DNA barcodes for two endemic plants. The matK gene region could clearly identify A. argaeus and A. stenosemioides from closely related taxa, according to the phylogenetic study. Taxonomic and biodiversity research, as well as molecular ecology and population genetics investigations, will benefit from DNA barcoding surveys to unambiguously differentiate between these two species. Also, by separating the matK DNA gene area, which is one of the molecular features, it is feasible to detect the species, and A. argaeus and A. stenosemioides were successfully barcoded for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]