Genetic relationships and diversity of commercially relevant Echinacea species

The genus Echinacea is comprised of nine species, which are perennial herbs indigenous to North America and which have been traditionally used as medicinal plants for centuries. Three Echinacea species, E. angustifolia, E. purpurea, and E. pallida, are currently being traded internationally in the natural products market. Echinacea products constitute a significant portion of this growing, multi-billion dollar industry. The increasing popularity of Echinacea products has led to the expansion of wildcrafting and commercial cultivation to meet the growing demand for plant material. Echinacea is considered of value as a nonspecific immune stimulant, and claims of its efficacy have been tentatively supported by both laboratory and clinical studies. This study used random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers to determine the genetic relationships of the three Echinacea species of commercial interest, to evaluate the level of diversity present within germplasm of each of the three species, and to compare accessions of each species available from different sources. A total of 101 RAPD markers were generated for the 76 individuals of four species included in the analysis. NTSYS-PC was used to evaluate the genetic relationships of the three species and to determine the general level of overall diversity. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) was performed using pruned marker sets corrected for the dominant nature of RAPD markers. AMOVA revealed that most of the variation occurred within accessions of the same species, though some accessions of both E. pallida and E. angustifolia were found to be significantly different from other accessions of the same species.