Role of Molecular Markers in Assessing Genetic Diversity in Mentha: A Review

Morphological, phytochemical and genetic differences were studied to evaluate the level and distribution of diversity among thirteen genotypes of Mentha using both agro-morphological traits and ISSR markers. Our findings indicated that there were significant differences for agro-morphological traits and essential oil variations in mint species. Cluster analysis based on these traits grouped the genotypes into 8 separate clusters. Highest and lowest polymorphism was shown by M. piperita and M. cardiaca respectively. Plants have evolved various strategies for survival and reproduction during the long evolutionary course, one of which is the production of an array of small molecular weight compounds, also known as secondary metabolites or natural products. The potent biological activity of secondary metabolites has also led to their exploitation as pharmaceuticals and many other functions. Although much progress has been made, a lot more still need to be learned about the mechanisms responsible for the formation of most of the important secondary metabolites. SCoT analysis also revealed high polymorphism with the primers generating polymorphic profiles.