Genetic diversity in the natural population of threatened fruit- bearing plant species Monotheca buxifolia (Falc.) A.D.

Monotheca buxifolia is an ethnomedicinally and economically important threatened fruit bearing plant species in Malakand Division Pakistan. The genetic diversity among the 92 various genotypes of Monotheca buxifolia was carried out using sodium dodecyl sulfate poly acrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) method. A considerable amount of inter districts genetic diversity (66.70%) was observed among the genotypes of M. buxifolia. Protein profiling was conducted on 12% gel electrophoresis. A total of 6 protein bands were observed in M. buxifolia genotypes. SDS-PAGE practice is a convenient scheme for the examination of both genetic diversity and relationship. Particularly, L-4 and L-5 were monomorphic in the inter districts Monotheca buxifolia genotypes and was recognized as species specific. The remaining other loci were polymorphic. In this investigation, the high inter and intra- districts specific diversity was observed demonstrating SDS-PAGE is an authoritative procedure for categorizing the genetically diverse germplasms in M. buxifolia. The findings from this study could be useful in the identification and selection of suitable M. buxifolia genotypes for future conservation programmes. Today, there is still a need to examine the genetic diversity and protect genetic resources, in particular wild species, for possible benefits in plant conservation programmes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first ever report that addresses genetic variability in M. buxifolia. Keywords: Genetic variation; Climate change; SDS-PAGE; M. buxifolia   References Al-Yahyai and Al-Nabhani. 2006. Botanical description and propagation of Monotheca buxifolia (13-19 August) 27 international Horticulture exhibitions (IHC 200). Korea (ABS.) Khan, M.K.U., Muhammad, N., Uddin, N., Ali, N., Umer, M., Ullah, S. 2020. Genetic diversity in threatened plant species Alnus nitida (Spach.) Endel. Plant Science Today. 7 (3):314-318. Khan, N., Ahmed, M., Wahab, M., Ajaib, M., & Hussain, S. S. (2010). Studies along an altitudinal gradient in Monotheca buxifolia (falc.) ad, forest, District Lower Dir, Pakistan. Pak. J. Bot, 42 (5), 3029-3038. Laemmli, U. K. (1970): Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. – Nature 227: 680-685. McCune, B. and M. J. Mefford. PC-ORD. Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Data. Version 5. MjM Software Design, Gleneden Beach, Oregon, U.S.A, 1997. Muhammad, N., Uddin, N., Liu, M., Ali, N. 2019. Ethno medicine, antioxidant potential and inter-specific variations of Punica L. species growing in Swat District, KP, Pakistan. International Journal of Botany Studies. 4 (4):36-46. Muhammad, N., Wadood, S.F., Khan, W, Ali, N., Nisar, M. 2018 Intra-species profiling of Cleome viscosa growing in Swat District (Pakistan). Biosystems Diversity. 26 (1):52-55. Mujeeb-Kazi, A., Ali, N., Ibrahim, A., Napar, A. A., Jamil, M., Hussain, S., Mahmood, Z., Delgado, R., Rosas, V., Cortes, A., Rajaram, S. (2017): Tissue culture mediated allelic diversification and genomic enrichment of wheat to combat production constraints and address food security. – Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology 27: 89-140. Nasir, E and S.I. Ali .1972. Flora of West Pakistan. Noor, M., Ali, N., Nisar, M., Abd Allah, E.F., Hashem, A., et al.,2018. Genetic diversity within natural populations of the medicinal plant Rhynchosia minima (L.) DC. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research. 16 (5):5633-51.   Shahina, A.G. and F. Martin. 1998. Vegetation of Arabian Peninsula Published by Kluwer Academic publisher Netherlands Page 74-75. Silva, A. V. C. D., Amorim, J. A. E., Vitoria, M. F. D., Ledo, A. D. S., & Rabbani, A. R. C. (2017). Characterization of trees, fruits and genetic diversity in natural populations of mangaba. Ciencia e agrotecnologia, 41 (3), 255-262. Ullah, I., Khan, J. A., Shahid, M., Khan, A., Adhikari, A., Hannan, P. A., ... & Farooq, U. (2016). Pharmacological screening of Monotheca buxifolia (Falc.) A. DC. for antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic activities. BMC complementary and alternative medicine, 16 (1), 273.