Urtica dioica
is an ethnobotanically and medicinally important Complementary and Alternative Medicine
(CAM) plant worldwide and in Turkey; 90 % of herbal CAM applications depend on it in Turkey. It has a wide
range of habitats in nearly all continents. It is found in all three phytogeographical regions in Turkey (Euro-
Siberian, Irano-Turanian, Mediterranean) with high adaptivity to heterogeneous geographies such as climate, soil
types and altitudes. This fact in relation to the assessment of chemical constituents of the plant and combining
with further genetic and morphological variation data can assist and enhance the works for the utility and reliability
of CAM applications in effect and activity of this plant species. In this work we have made some preliminary
experiments with novel approaches to reveal the ecotypes and genetic variation of mighty ecotypes of
Urtica
dioica from different phytogeographical regions of Turkey (Euro-Siberian and Mediterranean). The ecotypes have
heterogeneity in both its parts (leaf, stem, root) as revealed by Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA-Polymerase
Chain Reaction (RAPD-PCR) using random primers and High-resolution Melt (HRM) analysis using
Urtica dioica
specific primers and universal chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) primers and morphological traits such as phenolic
contents and antioxidant capacities of plants’ leaf infusions as used in medicinal applications in Turkey. This work
will contribute a lot for the development of molecular markers to detect the genetic variation and heterogeneity of
Urtica dioica to further relate with expected phenotypes that are most useful and relevant in CAM applications.
