Planta Med 2012; 78 - PE3
DOI: 10.1055/s-0032-1320540

Identification of spontaneous Portuguese digitalis hybrids using RAPD markers

Y Saeedi 1, F Nóbrega 2, L Gouveia 1, ET Gomes 1, R Serrano 1, O Silva 1
  • 1iMed.UL, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon, Av. Professor Gama Pinto, 1649–003 Lisbon
  • 2Instituto Nacional de Recursos Biológicos, I.P./I.N.I.A, Quinta do Marquês, 2780–159 Oeiras, Portugal

Portuguese Flora includes the known species Digitalis purpurea L. and the endemism of Iberian Peninsula Digitalis thapsi L. with different morphological and chemical characteristics.

Until now, and in spite of their economic importance, related to the cardenolides presence, little information is available concerning the genetic diversity of the natural populations of these species including the identification of spontaneous hybridization.

Hereby results related to the characterization of genetic diversity of wild population of Digitalis in the Northeast region of Portugal by application of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers are presented and discussed. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis clearly allow the identification of 3 main Digitalis groups (D. thapsi, D. purpurea and D. thapsi x D.purpurea), fully consistent with those previously obtained using morphological affinities and confirms the need of the use of a minimum of 3 molecular markers to distinguish these populations.