Molecular identification and phylogenetic analysis of Corchorus olitorius using psbA-trnH plastid DNA region

Abstract

Corchorus olitorius L. (commonly known as jute mallow) is a widely utilised leafy vegetable valued for its nutritional and medicinal benefits. It exhibits considerable genetic diversity, making it an important crop for breeding programmes and conservation efforts. However, to achieve this, accurate identification is required. Morphological methods of identification are found to be insufficient as it often fails to reveal the intra-specific differences and evolutionary relationships existing between closely related taxa. In contrast, Molecular methods of identification such as DNA barcoding are accurate and reliable for species identification and elucidating evolutionary relationship existing between closely related taxa. This study aimed to utilize DNA barcoding as a molecular technique to identify C. olitorius using the psbA-trnH plastid DNA region. DNA was extracted from leaf tissues, amplified and sequenced. BLAST analysis was conducted on the NCBI Genbank database, followed by multiple sequence alignments. Maximum Likelihood method was employed to infer phylogeny using MEGA11 software. Results revealed the psbA-trnH region produced a DNA barcode of 359 bp sequence. Also, BLAST similarities ranged from 90% to 100% across 21 Genebank accessions. Phylogenetic analysis revealed a strong evolutionary relationship between C. olitorius, C. orinocensis, and C. cunninghamii supported by high bootstrap values. This research provides DNA barcodes for molecular identification of C. olitorius as well as information about its evolutionary relationships with closely related taxa. Such information will aid plant breeding, conservation, and biosystematics endeavours.