Phytochemical, Morphological and Genetic Characterisation of Anacyclus pyrethrum var. depressus (Ball.) Maire and Anacyclus pyrethrum var. pyrethrum (L.) Link

The present study is based on a multidisciplinary approach carried out for the first time on Anacyclus pyrethrum var. pyrethrum and Anacyclus pyrethrum var. depressus, two varieties from the endemic and endangered medicinal species listed in the IUCN red list, Anacyclus pyrethrum (L.) Link. Therefore, morphological, phytochemical, and genetic characterisations were carried out in the present work. Morphological characterisation was established based on 23 qualitative and quantitative characters describing the vegetative and floral parts. The phytochemical compounds were determined by UHPLC. Genetic characterisation of extracted DNA was subjected to PCR using two sets of universal primers, rbcL a-f/rbcL a-R and rpocL1-2/rpocL1-4, followed by sequencing analysis using the Sanger method. The results revealed a significant difference between the two varieties studied. Furthermore, phytochemical analysis of the studied extracts revealed a quantitative and qualitative variation in the chemical profile, as well as the presence of interesting compounds, including new compounds that have never been reported in A. pyrethrum. The phylogenetic analysis of the DNA sequences indicated a similarity percentage of 91%. Based on the morphological characterisation and congruence with the phytochemical characterisation and molecular data, we can confirm that A. pyrethrum var. pyrethrum and A. pyrethrum var. depressus represent two different taxa.