Application of SCoT Marker to Discriminate Genotypes and Synthetic Cultivars of Fennel (Foeniculum Vulgare Mill.)

Fennel is a member of the Umbelliferae family and one of the most important and commonly used medicinal herbs. Because plant cultivar registration and protection is now confined to a small number of morphological features, the adoption of molecular approaches as complementing tools is unavoidable. In this investigation, the researchers employed ten start codon targeted (SCoT) markers to identify and distinctiveness three synthetic fennel cultivars and eight parental ecotypes. Ten SCoT primers obtained a total of 54 amplified fragments, of which 44 were polymorphic. SC14 and SC2 primers with 9 bands had the most bands, whereas SC17 primers with 5 bands had the least bands. SC29, SC31, and SC2 primers have the greatest polymorphic information content (PIC), Resolving Power (RP), and Marking Index (MI). The genetic similarity of the genotypes analyzed using the Jaccard similarity coefficient varied from 0.31 to 0.76, with an average similarity of 0.54. Genotypes were distinct from one another and split into five categories using cluster analysis, the results of primary coordinate analysis (PCoA) corroborated these findings. These markers proved to be valuable tools for identifying and distinctiveness fennel cultivars due to their good separation of cultivars and independence from environmental effects. As a result, the markers utilized in this research are appropriate for distinction fennel cultivars.