Intraspecific discrimination study of wild cherry populations from North-Western Turkey by DNA barcoding approach

Wild cherry (Prunus avium L.) is a plant widely distributed around the world that possesses a great economic value. Indeed, it represents both a fruit source and one of the most important European hardwood species. For this reason, in order to obtain information about Turkish authoctonous P. avium germplasm and favor wood management policies and preservation strategies, we investigated the phylogenetic relationships existing among seven wild cherry populations (a total of 139 individuals) located in Northern Turkey using DNA barcoding. For each specimen, in detail, we sequenced a nuclear one (ITS) and two plastidial (trnH-psbA and matK) genes, to identify nucleotide polymorphisms, hypervariable genetic regions, and mutation events. Applying neighbor-joining method and genetic structure analysis, a high rate of crossbreeding among stands was revealed, except for one population (Gölcük) whose molecular profile was less similar to the others. In general, we observed that ITS was the most informative marker, suggesting it as a good candidate for P. avium intraspecific study. We conclude that DNA barcode technique, usually applied for species identification, may be also used as a scientific tool for the detection of plant biodiversity at population level.