Biodiversity status of Tulipa (Liliaceae) in Iran inferred from molecular characterization

Here, we used data generated from amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis to address the biodiversity status and taxonomic relationships among 47 wild accessions representing 9 species of the genus Tulipa in Iran. A high level of genetic diversity within the genus was observed; the most distant taxa were T. humilis and T. schrenkii, while the highest degree of similarity was found between T. montana and T. biflora. Twelve AFLP primer sets amplified 342 fragments, of which 304 were polymorphic (88.1%). The average number of polymorphic bands per AFLP primer pair was 28.5. A hierarchical cluster analysis was carried out on the genetic profile of the taxa, and the results mostly reconfirmed the recognized taxonomy of the genus. However, we found evidence for recognition of a new subgenus for T. biebersteiniana.