Genetic diversity of Chimonanthus nitens Oliv. complex revealed using inter-simple sequence repeat markers

The level and pattern of genetic diversity of seven natural populations of Chimonanthus nitens, an endangered plant bearing high ornamental and medicinal values, were investigated using inter-simple sequence repeat markers. 12 primers yielded 134 polymorphic bands. The genetic diversity was high at the species level (percentage of polymorphic loci, PPL = 94.37%; Nei's gene diversity, h = 0.2776; Shannon information index, I = 0.4207), and relatively low at the population level (PPL = 48.59%, h = 0.1571, I = 0.2373). Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that the genetic variation among populations was 50.35%. Gene flow was restricted to a certain extent (0.6537). Seven populations were divided into three groups according to their geographical distribution and based on an unweighted pair-group method average dendrogram. A significant correlation (r = 0.7744, P < 0.01) was observed between the geographic distance and the genetic distance. Based on the results obtained from the current study, efficient and feasible conservation strategies for C. nitens were proposed.