Highly differentiated populations of the narrow endemic and endangered species Primula cicutariifolia in China, revealed by ISSR and SSR

•The genetic structure of Primula cicutariifolia was assessed by ISSR and SSR markers.•Its genetic variation is low within populations but high differentiated among populations.•Its genetic structure is well correspond to topographic mountain chains.•The conservation program was proposed for P. cicutariifolia.

The perennial herb Primula cicutariifolia Pax is an endangered and endemic species with narrow distribution in eastern Anhui and Zhejiang provinces of China. In this study, the levels of genetic variation and the pattern of genetic structure in five natural populations of P. cicutariifolia were assessed by inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Both markers revealed that there was remarkably low genetic variation within populations (e.g., He = 0.19 and 0.18, for ISSR and SSR respectively) and high differentiation among populations (GST = 0.714 and 0.611; ΦST = 0.698 and 0.599, for ISSR and SSR respectively). The level of population genetic diversity was correlated to population size only detected by ISSR markers. The genetic structure of P. cicutariifolia may be explained by limited gene flow that was caused by habitat fragmentation and limited seeds and pollen dispersal ability, self breeding system and biennial life form. To protect and avoid disappearance of P. cicutariifolia, much more attentions should be paid to protect all the remnant populations and their habitats, and three management units, i.e. Tianmushan, Damodao, and Panan units, were proposed.