Planta Med 2007; 73(12): 1316-1321
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-981617
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Original Paper
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Genetic Diversity of Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis, a Traditional Chinese Medicinal Herb, Detected by ISSR Markers

Jun He1 , 2 , Hong Wang1 , De-Zhu Li1 , Shao-Feng Chen2
  • 1Key Laboratory of Biodiversity and Biogeography, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, P. R. China
  • 2College of Life Sciences, Nanchang University, Nanchang, P. R. China
Further Information

Publication History

Received: March 4, 2007 Revised: July 3, 2007

Accepted: August 20, 2007

Publication Date:
20 September 2007 (online)

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Abstract

Paris polyphylla Smith var. yunnanensis (Franch.) Hand.-Mazz. is an important Chinese medicinal herb. Because of overharvesting, the wild populations of this herb have greatly declined and become fragmentized. In this paper, ISSR markers were used to determine the genetic diversity and genetic structure of this variety represented by a total of 153 individuals from three natural populations and three cultivated populations. Fourteen primers produced a total of 251 bands, of which 227 were polymorphic (PPB = 90.44 %). For the natural populations, the results showed that genetic differentiation was mainly within populations (GST = 0.1952), with low genetic diversity at the population level. At the population level, genetic diversity of the cultivated populations was relatively higher than that of the natural populations (PPB = 57.24 % vs. 53.38 %, HE = 0.153 vs. 0.151, HO = 0.241 vs. 0.235). This pattern can be explained by the recent introduction and artificial selection of cultivars from comparatively wide areas of origin, and subsequent gene flow among populations in cultivation. Although the neighbour-joining cluster analysis seemed to suggest that there was conspicuous genetic differentiation between the natural and cultivated populations, the AMOVA showed that only 4.84 % of the total variance existed between groups of natural and cultivated populations, while 67.51 % of the variance occurred within populations. In the end, some suggestions for conservation of this important herb are proposed.

References

Hong Wang

Key Laboratory of Biodiversity and Biogeography

Kunming Institute of Botany

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Kunming 650204

Yunnan

People’s Republic of China

Phone: +86-871-522-3534

Fax: +86-871-521-7791

Email: wanghong@mail.kib.ac.cn