Phylogenetic Study of Acacia Species Using the Molecular Marker

Abstract

Acacia species are found at various arid and semiarid regions. Among the tree genera of family, Fabaceae, Acacia contains the highest number of species. We have collected different species of Acacia from various places of Saudi Arabia and reconstructed phylogeny for evaluation of genetic relationship among them. Internal transcribed spacer sequence of nrDNA (nrDNA-ITS) locus was used for the reconstruction of phylogeny among these species. Based on phylogenetic tree, Acacia etbaica and A. johnwoodii were close to each other. Similarly, A. ehrenbergiana and A. tortilis were close to each other. Thus, this gene locus was helpful in evaluating the genetic relationship among these species.