Genetic Diversity Assessment of Iranian Kentucky Bluegrass Accessions: II. Nuclear DNA Content and Its Association with Morphological and Geographical Features.

Poa pratensis L. is a perennial turfgrass with high regeneration and fertility, resistance to cold and drought, and quick colonization. By facultative apomixis, this plant can create a wide range of ploidy levels (2n = 22 to 2n = 154), resulting in a wide range of chromosomal numbers and sexual and apomictic reproductive diversity. The plant materials included fifty accessions from Iran's Center, South, North, North-East, North-West, and West ecoregions. UPOV standards were used to measure the qualities that were researched. The squash technique of chromosome counting revealed that Iranian Kentucky bluegrass accessions had chromosomal counts ranging from 24 to 87. The relative sizes of the 2C genomes were measured using laser flow cytometry. The range of DNA content was fairly wide, ranging from 4.92 to 11.52 pg. DNA content has a strong positive correlation with elevation, a moderately positive correlation with flag leaf length and leaf sheath width, and a negative correlation with inflorescence anthocyanin color and leaf anthocyanin color. The genotypes and ecological zones of this plant in Iran were distinguished based on morphological diversity and DNA content. The results from this study could be useful in identifying and studying wild Kentucky bluegrass genotypes. It aids in predicting the location of rare genotypes used as breeding materials. It can also increase the plant's variability for future generations by introducing new ecotypes, with particular genomic and morphological traits, to previously cultivated populations. We expect that the findings of this study will aid in understanding the evolution of this plant in the context of Iran's climatic variety.

Genetic Diversity Assessment of Iranian Kentucky Bluegrass Accessions: I. ISSR Markers and Their Association with Habitat Suitability Within and Between Different Ecoregions.

Poa pratensis L. is a commonly used cool-season turfgrass and endemic to Iran. This research was carried out to examine the genetic diversity of this plant within and between ecoregions of Iran and the impact of climatic variables and elevation on the distribution of its genotypes, as well as habitat suitability modeling. We used fifty accessions collected from six ecoregions (West, South, North, North-West and North-East) for genetic diversity assessment using 20 ISSR marker primers. The prospective ecoregions for Kentucky bluegrass production were projected using habitat suitability modeling, which took into account important environmental parameters, such as annual mean temperature, annual mean rainfall, and elevation. According to the UPMGA dendrogram, the accessions were divided into two major types and four subclasses. The genetic distance between the North and North-east accessions, as well as the Center accessions, was greater than that of the other genotypes. Center accessions had the greatest levels of polymorphism, effective number of alleles, Shannon index, and Nei's genetic diversity. The FR method was used to create the habitat suitability map based on environmental factors. Rainfall had the largest influence on the genotype distribution of P. pratensis L. The findings of this study can be used as raw materials in future breeding programs to improve and generate new cultivars with superior characteristics. It can also assist programs in identifying rare cultivars as well as preserving and developing native P. pratensis L. genotypes.