Avicennia genus molecular phylogeny and barcoding: A multiple approach

The genus Avicennia contains of 8 species which show a great extent of morphological and genetic variability, which make taxonomy of the genus difficult. Molecular barcoding along with advancement in computational approaches may be proper methods to investigate and assess the efficiency of different molecular genetic regions in Avicennia species delineation and also produce data on species evolution and divergence. The aims of present study were to utilize multiple genetic data for the species delineation and study the phylogeny of the genus. Moreover, we developed a hypothesis on biogeography of these species with respect to barcode divergence. The results showed that both Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and trnHG–psbA intergenic spacer (trnHG-psbA) sequences may be used in Avicennia species delineation. Barcode gap analysis and nucleotide difference of the studied taxa showed significant Fst for pair-wise species comparison and the role of nucleotide changes in Avicennia speciation.