Comparison of ITS, RAPD and ISSR from DNA-based genetic diversity techniques

ITS, RAPD-PCR and ISSR-PCR are most popular DNA-based techniques that are extensively applied in the determination of the genetic diversity of species among populations. However, especially for organisms having high genetic polymorphism, phylogenetic trees drawn from the results of these techniques may be different. For finding a meaningful phylogenetic tree, it should be compared phylogenetic trees obtained from these different techniques with geographic locations of populations. Lichens have a high genetic polymorphism and tolerance against different environmental conditions. In this study, these three DNA-based genetic diversity techniques were compared, using different populations of a lichen species (Xanthoria parietina). X. parietina was especially chosen because of its high genetic diversity in narrow zones. Lichen samples were collected from ten different locations in a narrow transition climate zone Bilecik (Turkey). Statistical analyses of all results were calculated using UPGMA analysis. Phylogenic trees for each technique were drawn and transferred to the Bilecik map for comparative analysis. The results of three techniques allowed us to verify that populations of X. parietina have high genetic variety in a narrow zone. But phylogenetic trees obtained from these results were found to be very different. Our comparative analysis demonstrated that the results of these techniques are not similar and have critical differences. We observed that the ITS method provides more clear data and is more successful in genetic diversity analyses of more asunder populations, in contrast to ISSR-PCR and RAPD-PCR methods.