Genetic diversity and SSR markers development of ancient Camellia sinensis in Sandu County of Guizhou Province

Abstract

Abstract Background: The genetic abundance of ancient tea germplasm has been preserved in the long evolution process, which provides valuable resources for the protection and breed selection of ancient tea germplasm. However, the limited studies related to the genetic diversity of ancient tea germplasm restrict protection and breed selection. Therefore, the genetic diversity of ancient tea germplasm in Sandu county of Guizhou Province was explored in this study. II.Methods and Results: The genetic diversity was analyzed using phenotypes and SSR markers. The ranges for the variation coefficients of the six quantitative and seven qualitative characters were 17.76%-60.37% and 18.58%-50.64%, respectively. The ranges of diversity indices of the six quantitative and seven qualitative characters were 1.72-2.74 and 0.55-0.84, respectively. Ninety-six bands were amplified using 15 pairs of SSR primers from the 145 samples, and the average polymorphism information index was 0.66. The analysis revealed that the average values of Nei’s genetic diversity index (H) and the Shannon information index (I) are 0.26 and 0.41, respectively. Further, a genetic similarity coefficient of 0.734 shown by UPGMA dendrogram classified the 145 samples decreased into four groups. III.Conclusions: This study revealed the rich phenotypic variation and high molecular genetic diversity and the genetic diversity of the arbor is higher than that of the shrub of the ancient tea germplasm in Sandu of Guizhou province. Thus, this study not only provides a theoretical basis for the protection and breed selection but also promotes further research of ancient tea germplasm.