ISSR analysis of the genetic diversity of the endangered species Sinopodophyllum hexandrum (Royle) Ying from western Sichuan Province, China

Sinopodophyllum hexandrum (Royle) Ying is an important medicinal and endangered species. Inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) analysis was conducted on seven natural populations from western Sichuan Province to investigate the genetic diversity of S. hexandrum. Leaf samples of 140 individuals were collected. Of the 139 discernible fragments generated by 12 selected primers (among 100 primers), 54 appeared to be polymorphic. The percentage of polymorphic bands (PPB) was 38.85% at the species level, and PPB within a population ranged from 7.91% to 23.74%. Low levels of genetic variation (He = 0.092, Ho = 0.142) and high levels of genetic differentiation among the populations (G(st) = 62.25%) was detected on the basis of results from POPGENE and analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), respectively. Furthermore, the limited gene flow (Nm = 0.361) may result from biological characteristics, such as self-pollination and short distance seed dispersal. Based on the genetic and ecological information available for S. hexandrum, we propose some appropriate strategies for the conservation of the endangered medicinal species in this region, namely rescuing and conserving the core populations for in situ conservation and sampling and preserving more populations with fewer individuals from each population for ex situ conservation.