Population genetic structure of an aquatic herb Batrachium bungei (Ranuculaceae) in the Hengduan Mountains of China

Inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers were used to investigate the genetic variation of 14 populations of Batrachium bungei (Ranunculaceae) from the Hengduan Mountains of China, which is a global biodiversity region that is poorly studied. A total of 75 bands with 52 polymorphic loci were generated from the ten primers used in this study. A total of 155 different genotypes or clones were identified among the 442 samples. A low level of genetic diversity within population and high genetic differentiation among populations were revealed in this study. Factors, such as inbreeding, clonal growth, bottlenecks, population isolation and founder events during postglacial recolonizations, might have played important roles in shaping the population structure of B. bungei.