MORPHOLOGICAL AND MOLECULAR DIAGNOSIS OF RUPPIA MARITIMA L. IN THE BASRAH GOVERNORATE SOUTHERN OF IRAQ

The plants of the family Ruppiaceae are monocotyledons, containing only one genus, which has many species in the world., In Iraq, especially in Basrah Governorate, this study was aimed at morphological and molecular diagnosis to confirm this species, which is the only one registered at the local level in the country and in Basrah in particular. Plant samples of Ruppia maritima were isolated from one of the salt marshes(swamps) in a province in the area of five miles and were carried out for phenotypic and then molecular diagnosis for confirmation. The whole plant approximately more than 30 cm (40-65) cm in length and less than 1 mm (0.9 mm) in stem diameter .The plant is monocious and the flowers are bisexual and sessile as groups in the base of leaves ,the length of peduncles more than 5 cm reach to 22-23 cm flexuous ,but not spirally coiled and bearing between 5-11 fruits obliquely ovoid (2-2.5)mm in length. The leaves are distributed alternately across the stem . The PCR amplification of ten samples revealed that most of the samples have a positive band on gel electrophoresis. The partial chloroplast atpB-gene was amplified in all positive samples and produced the expected PCR size of 601bp for all samples. The present phylogenetic and genetic tree analysis confirmed that samples in the current study are closest to R. maritima. In accordance with the phenotypic classification, this is the first study from a molecular point of view in Iraq to establish this plant species.