Phylogenetic assay and pollen structure of few species of the genus amaranthus L.

Abstract

In Amaranthaceae, morphology based identification methods are usually time consuming and may sometimes lead to misidentification and always may not provide good resolution at the species levels. The phenotypic variability of the taxa may lead to misidentifications and creation of new false identity. DNA sequencing has been used to explain evolutionary relationships for more than 20 years in molecular systematics. The aims of DNA barcoding include identification of known specimens/species and new discovery of unknown plant species for enhancing taxonomy for the good of the science and betterment of society. The study basically emphasised on palynological studies and molecular profiling of Amaranthus species using universal markers rbcL and matK. The pollen morphology of the species of Amaranthus shows significant differences in polar length and equatorial diameter whereas the aperture was pantoporate with evenly distributed microspines. The phylogenetic assay showed bootstrap value of 96 and 98 for matK while 79 and 98 for rbcL dendrograms. All barcodes yield quality sequences.