Abstract
For preliminary characterization and discrimination among four wild and three cultivated economic species of family Lamiaceae scattered in Taif governorate of Saudi Arabia, different molecular approaches were used. Nineteen loci from five enzyme systems were determined: twelve were monomorphic and the other (ADH-1, MDH-2, alpha-EST-4, alpha-EST-5, alpha-EST-6, alpha-EST-7 and PRX-2) were polymorphic in at least one species. The estimated observed heterozygosities were higher than those of the expected in 6 species. The negative values of the inbreeding coefficient referred to an excess in heterozygosity in the 6 species indicating some tendency to outcrossing selection against homozygosity. The UPGMA dendrogram grouped all individuals of the same species together revealing lower genetic diversity within each species. The seven DNA primers generated 16 bands of which 14 were polymorphic with polymorphism percentage ranging between 0.00 to 100% indicating a high level of polymorphism. The eleven unique bands identified were stable and specific for the four species of the two genera; Mentha and Lavendula. Results can be used for the DNA barcoding approaches and subsequently the conservation of these Saudi Arabian plant resources.