Genetic diversity of wild Prunus pseudocerasus populations from China based on SSR markers

280 samples from 14 wild Prunus pseudocerasus populations in China were collected to study their population genetic diversity and structure using 11 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. A total of 82 alleles were detected, and the number of alleles per locus ranged from 4 to 13. The percentage of polymorphic loci (PPL) was 100% in populations. The means of Shannon's information index (I) and Nei's gene diversity (H) were 1.2069 and 0.6440, respectively. About 86.44% of genetic variability was observed within the populations (F-st=0.1356), indicating that the genetic differentiation was higher within each population than among the populations. According to gene differentiation coefficient, the gene flow (N-m) was 1.5941. Our study revealed relatively rich genetic diversity in the wild populations of P. pseudocerasus in China. These findings could provide theoretic reference for utilization and conservation of wild P. pseudocerasus resources in China.