Abstract:

Genetic diversity in a natural Caldesia grandis population in Hunan Province was assessed using RAPD markers. A total of 180 individuals from 30 maternal plants were assayed. Of the 100 RAPD primers screened, twelve produced highly reproducible bands. Using these primers, a total of 112 DNA fragments were generated with 79 (70.5%) being polymorphic. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) show that a large proportion of genetic variation (76.9%) resided within families, while only a small proportion (23.1%) resided among families. Shannon index showed that total genetic diversity of maternal plants was 0.18, which was identical with the result of analysis of Nei’s gene diversity. NTSYS analysis indicated that the individual offspring from a single maternal plant could not be clustered together completely. The estimate of gene flow (N_m) among maternal plants was 0.83, indicating high gene flow among the maternal plants.