Molecular phylogenetic analysis of some vetch (Vicia L.) species growing in Turkiye and comparison with the species in the world

Vicia L., a very significant genus in the Fabaceae family that has economic importance in the food and feed business, is present in our nation with a total of 102 taxa, including 63 species, 22 subspecies, and 17 variations. Only a limited number of species are farmed. Certain species are particularly significant as fodder plants due to their high nutritional content. The thesis focused on using the ITS gene region (ITS1+5.8s+ITS2) inside the inner transcribed regions of nuclear ribosomal genes to establish the molecular phylogenetic links between naturally occurring and economically significant species in Türkiye (6 species, 1 subspecies and varieties). The PCR investigations provided data that was used to construct a molecular phylogenetic tree, which depicted the evolutionary connections within the genus. The Maximum Likelihood method was used, using the Gamma distribution in the GTR parameter, to exhibit these relationships. The species Astragalus mongolicus and Lupinus luteus, which are both members of the same family, were selected from the NCBI database along with additional species from the Vicia genus that have been previously examined. These species were included in the study. Furthermore, the molecular data was transformed into a 2- dimensional representation by illustrating the secondary structures of the ITS2 gene region. The Gibbs free energy values were retrieved and the variations between different species were shown. Consequently, species from the Vicia genus were included into the molecular phylogenetic tree with morphological data, using the ITS gene region, a commonly used tool in phylogenetic research. Keywords: Fabaceae, Vicia L., ITS, phylogeny, Gibbs free energy