Phenetic and genetic characterization of selected economically important species in the family Zingiberaceae

Abstract

Zingiberaceae, includes medicinally and economically important monocotyledons mostly distributed in South and South East Asia. A complete taxonomic knowledge of this plant group in Sri Lanka is lacking hence the present study was carried out to characterize and infer phenetic and genetic relationships of eight economically important zingibers. Morphological and anatomical characters of leaves, rhizomes and adventitious roots and phenolic characters of leaves were cluster analysed using MINITAB 17 to derive relationships. A phylogram was obtained from MEGA software using rDNA ITS sequences amplified by PCR from leaf genomic DNA. Costus speciosus was used as the out group in the phylogenetic study. As per the principal component analysis plant height, rhizome diameter, length of rhizome internodes, leaf length, leaf width and length of leaf petiole can be recommended as suitable for characterization of these taxa. rDNA ITS regions may well be used for Zingiber and Curcuma species identification. Combination of morphological, anatomical and phenolic characters can be used in delimiting commonly used Z. officinale cultivars and Curcuma species in Sri Lanka. Further, derived genetic relationships of these taxa would provide better information in characterization of commonly used Zingiber cultivars, Curcuma and Alpinia species in Sri Lanka at the initial developmental stages and would support in quality improvement breeding programs.