Genetic structure and diversity in <i>Eremopyrum bonaepartis</i> populations

<i>Eremopyrum</i> (Triticeae, Poaceae) is a small annual genus of forage importance in dry habitats of Asia. One of its species, <i>E. bonaepartis,</i> has a complicated taxonomic history. Some authors distinguished a separate species as <i>E. confusum</i> while others merged the latter to <i>E. bonaepartis</i>. In this study, we examined the genetic structure and diversity of the <i>E. bonaepartis</i> complex species in Iran using Inter Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR) markers to determine the <i>E. confusum</i> situation and to assign genotypes to gene pools. Ten ISSR markers were used to evaluate the genetic diversity of 18 populations of the taxa studied. We estimated genetic parameters, genetic distance, gene flow, and genetic variation at both inter- and intra-population levels. AMOVA and structure analyses revealed high genetic diversity (77%) within taxa. Mantel test showed a significant correlation between genetic and geographical distance. A high level of gene flow among the taxa studied was observed. We concluded that there is no clear disjunction between taxa studied and observed admixture in the genetic structure. So we can conclude that <i>E. confusum</i> should not be considered separate from <i>E. bonaepartis</i>.