Impact of ecological diversity on genetic and phytochemical variation in Juniperus excelsa from high elevation zones of quetta valley,Pakistan

Juniperusexcelsa (cupressaceae) is an evergreen tree and the second most diverse group of the conifers distributed abundantly in high elevation zones of balochistan. genetic and phytochemical variations in three naturally occurring populations of j.excelsa were analysed. genetic variability was assessed by different molecular markers (rapd,issr and urp) with an objective to use genetic diversity as a key to conserve the taxon which is also known as living fossil as dominated in mesozoic era. genetic diversity was assessed by polymorphic bands to generate a dendrogram based on upgma. using tested markers,116 bands were amplified out of which 67 bands were polymorphic with an average value of 8.37 (57%) bands per primer. based on data,a cluster dendrogram was prepared that exhibited the mean genetic similarity matrix as 0.57 and two major clusters diverge at 0.49. the genetic similarity coefficient among all accessions ranged from 0.35 to 0.90. in phytochemical analysis,total phenolic and flavonoid contents were estimated and compared among all accessions. ecological characteristics of the study sites were measured to check their impact on genetic and chemical variation. soil properties were analyzed for principal component analysis. chemical variation of j. excelsa of three sites revealed by dissimilarity matrix exhibiting genetic distance based on tpc and flavonoids. cluster analysis represent two major groups. mean concentration of tpc and flavonoids were 56±9.15 and 150±27.9 mg/g respectively. pca of soil considered three factors had eigen values >1 and explain cumulatively 4.60 %,26.02% and 10.36 % of the variance. first factor was positively correlated with second and fifth,but negatively correlated with other factors. in conclusion,molecular marker profiling together with phytochemical variation of total phenolic and flavonoid content in all accessions of juniperusexcelsa and impact of ecological diversity on genetic and chemical variation can be used as base line study for implementation of conservation strategies. © 2017,pakistan botanical society. all rights reserved.