Abstract:

【Objective】 Licorice (Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.) is an important Chinese medicinal plant with industrial and ecological values but at the risk of extinction. Genetic diversity analysis will be helpful to the protection of the wild germplasm resources of G. uralensis F. 【Method】 The genetic diversity of 320 single individual plants representing 16 wild populations, which were derived from main production regions of licorice in China, was assessed with AFLP markers. 【Result】 A total of 759 fragments were generated from fifteen pairs of selective AFLP primer combinations, 527 of which were polymorphic. The level of polymorphism was 69.43%. Nei’s gene diversity index ranged from 0.13 to 0.19 for different populations, with the total value of 0.25. Shannon information index ranged from 0.19 to 0.28, with the total value of 0.39. The licorice populations from Ningxia district had the highest genetic diversity, however, those from Jiuquan district were the lowest. The result of AMOVA analysis showed that the genetic variation within populations was 67.16% and the variation between populations was 18.64%. Sixteen populations were clustered into three groups by UPGMA dendrogram, which was significantly correlated with the geographic distribution of the materials.【Conclusion】 The results of present study indicate that the wild licorice populations in China have the medium level of genetic diversity. The broad genetic variation within populations could be the theoretical base for the protection of wild germplasm resources and breeding of elite varieties.

Key words: Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.l wild population, genetic diversity, AFLP