Objective: To study the genetic diversity of Codonopsis tangshen.
Method: Eighteen germplasmic resources of C. tangshen were analyzed by SRAP and ISSR molecular markers. The systematic diagram of genetic relationship was made by TREECONW software and clustered by UPGMA method.
Result: Twenty-nine SRAP primer combination amplified 329 bands with 266 (80.85%) polymorphic and 21 ISSR primers amplified 223 bands with 166 (74.44%) polymorphic. The average genetic similarity coefficient was 0.7121 (by SRAPs) and 0.7781 (by ISSRs). Both SRAP and ISSR analyses revealed a high level of genetic diversity in C. tangshen. By cluster analysis, the geographical distribution was not distinctive. The significant positive correlation between SRAPs and ISSRs was observed (r=0.802, P<0.01), although the dendrograms based on SRAP and ISSR markers were not all the same.
Conclusion: Different germplasms diversity of C. tangshen is high and SRAP and ISSR can be used in genetic diversity study of C. tangshen.