رابطه های تنوع ژنتیکی و برخی از گیاهان دارویی بواسطه نشانگر مولکولی RAPD

ABSTRACT Study on Genetic Diversity relationship some Medicinal plants using RAPD Molecular marker

Medicinal plants play a crucial role in the lives of rural people, in remote parts of developing countries with limited facilities for health care (Purohit and Prajapati, 2003). Medicinal plants have curative properties due to complex chemical substances of different composition, found as secondary plant metabolites in one or more parts of these plants. The plant metabolites, according to their composition are grouped as alkaloids, glycosides, corticosteroids, and essential oils and so on. Medicinal plants are a living and irreparable resource, exhaustible if overused and sustainable if used with care and wisdom. The importance of medicinal plants has been overlooked in the past, however, at present medicinal plants are looked not only as a source of affordable health care but also as a source of income Around 70,000 plant species, from lichens to flowering trees have been used for medicinal purposes. Many species are used in herbal medicines and is used in unrefined or semi-processed form, often as mixtures, which may also contain non botanical ingredient. A few species are the sources of defined compounds used in the pharmaceutical industry. There is international trade in medicinal plants used in herbal medicine and in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals. There is also a growing interest in obtaining samples of plant material and traditional knowledge about the uses of plants and also to explore commercial medicinal products. The scale of international trade in medicinal plants is difficult to assess, because of the paucity of reliable statistics and trade secrecy. Molecular markers have particularly been suggested to be useful for confirmation of genetic fidelity in micro propagated tree species, where lifespan is quite long and performance of micro propagated plants could only be ascertained after their long juvenile stage in field conditions. In India also, studies have been conducted and research projects funded for research where lack of polymorphism shown through the use of molecular markers has been used to infer genetic fidelity. Recent advances in molecular genetics techniques and tools over the past decade have provided considerable impetus to research in this direction. Techniques using molecular markers based on DNA polymorphism are coming up at a rapid rate. However, molecular marker study of these medicinal plants was carried out by previous researchers with sporadic reports. and molecular marker studies in these medicinal plants, revealed a large gap, in view of the above the present investigation was undertaken on some of the medicinal plants such Hemigraphis colorata, Majorana hortensis, Artemisia vulgaris, Artemisia pallens, Ocimum sanctum, Ocimum basilicum, Ocimum gratissimum, Mentha piperita, Mentha citrate, Mentha spicata, Acorus calamus, Centella asiatica, Bacopa monnierii, Piper longum, Piper nigrum, Clitoria ternatea, Aloe vera, Stevia rebaudiana, However the present investigation was carried out on studies on molecular characterization using molecular RAPD markers in some medicinal plants.