Genetic diversity and population structure of Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua in China using SSR markers

Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua is a perennial herbaceous plant of the Polygonatum genus, belonging to the Liliaceae family, with significant medicinal and nutritional value. In China, this species is a traditional medicinal and edible herb with a long history of application and is widely appreciated by the people. However, as the demand for medicinal herbs continues to grow, excessive harvesting has led to the depletion of wild resources and the risk of genetic erosion. In addition, the chaotic cultivation of varieties and the lack of high quality germplasm resources have led to inconsistent quality of medical materials. Therefore, it is urgent to conduct genetic diversity evaluation of this species and establish a sound conservation plan. This study assessed the genetic diversity and population structure of 96 samples collected from seven regions in China using the simple sequence repeat (SSR) molecular marker technology. In this study, a total of 60 alleles (Na) were detected across the 10 polymorphic SSR markers used, with an average of 6.0 alleles generated per locus. The values of polymorphic information content (PIC) values ranged from 0.3396 to 0.8794, with an average value of 0.6430. The average value of the effective number of alleles (Ne) was 2.761, and the average value of the Shannon’s information index (I) was 1.196. The population structure analysis indicates that the Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua germplasm can be classified into three subpopulations (JZ, QY, JD) at the molecular level, which corresponds to the previous subgroups identified based on individual plant phenotypic traits. Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) showed that 74% of the genetic variation was between individuals within populations in different regions. The phylogenetic analysis of the 96 germplasm samples divided them into three main populations. The QY and JD subpopulations are largely clustered together, which could be attributed to their mountainous distribution and the local climate environment. The genetic differentiation coefficient (Fst) value was low at 0.065, indicating relatively low population differentiation. The ratio of the genetic differentiation coefficient (Fst) between the JZ population and the other two populations (QY and JD) is much higher than the ratio between the QY and JD populations. Based on the clustering results and the ratio of the genetic differentiation coefficient (Fst), it can be inferred that the genetic relationship between the QY and JD subpopulations is closer, with a certain degree of genetic differentiation from the JZ subpopulation. This study supports the conservation of germplasm resources of Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua in China and provides new parental material for germplasm genetic improvement and breeding programs.