Phylogenetic Position of Two Origanum Species Native to Iran in the Lamiaceae Family Based on Isolation and Sequencing of Two Key Genes Involved in the Rosmarinic Acid Biosynthesis Pathway

Zaerinejad, Soghra; Tarkesh Esfahani, Saeed; Mosleh Arani, Asghar

doi:10.22034/pgr.2026.2089956.1036

Phylogenetic Position of Two Origanum Species Native to Iran in the Lamiaceae Family Based on Isolation and Sequencing of Two Key Genes Involved in the Rosmarinic Acid Biosynthesis Pathway

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Soghra Zaerinejad ¹

Saeed Tarkesh Esfahani ¹

Asghar Mosleh Arani ²

¹ Department of Arid Land and Desert Management, School of Natural Resources and Desert Studies, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

² Department of Environmental Science, School of Natural Resources and Desert Studies, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

10.22034/pgr.2026.2089956.1036

Abstract

The genus Origanum in the lamiaceae family includes several pharmaceutically important plants whose antioxidant properties are known to depend on the phenolic compounds, including rosmarinic acid. Biosynthetic pathway of rosmarinic acid is common to many species of the lamiaceae family. This study aimed to isolate and sequence two genes, Rosmarinic acid synthase (RAS) and Hydroxyphenylpyruvate reductase (HPPR), involved in the biosynthesis of rosmarinic acid in three taxa including Origanum vulgare subsp. vulgare, Origanum vulgare subsp. viridulum and Origanum majorana, L. as well as to unravel phylogenetic relationships in the lamiaceae family based on the sequences of these two genes. Specific primers were designed based on the available sequencesS deposited in the GenBank database. Gene amplification was performed via Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) using DNA extracted from the Lamiaceae species as template, followed by PCR products sanger sequencing. The obtained sequences, along with other sequences recorded from these two genes in the GenBank database, were used to investigate phylogenetic relationships in the lamiaceae family. Species of the genus Mentha L. and the species Satureja khuzestanica Jamzad were found to be the closest taxa to Origanum plants. The genetic similarity coefficient between endemic Iranian species was higher than that between other studied species. These findings can be explained by the close geographical proximity and the high likelihood of gene flow among endemic species. Furthermore, this study contributes to the global genomic database, enhances the taxonomic identification of Origanum and Lamiaceae species, and supports the genetic improvement of this valuable endemic medicinal plant.

Keywords

Intron

Rosmarinic acid

Phylogenetics

Marjoram

Oregano

Subjects

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