Molecular Phylogeny and Population Structure of&IT Aconitum carmichaelii &IT(Fuzi) in Western China

Aconitum carmichaelii Debx. is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb. Its lateral root, named as Fuzi, has been cultivated manually for thousands of years. Recently, Fuzi agriculture is more and more bustling, and large amount of germplasm resources are needed. However it remains unclear to what extent the genetic diversity and population phylogeny for this species. In this paper, we used the nuclear gene (Serine-threonine kinase) and chloroplast fragments (psbA-trnH) to study 87 wild A. carmichaelii samples from 8 populations in China. Results showed that 118 variable sites existed in 1325 bp combined fragment, accounting for 8.91% of the total number of sites. Their average genetic distance was 0.014. The intra-population genetic distance was 0.003 (CQ) to 0.018 (YN), while the inter-population genetic distance was 0.007 (between SD and CQ) to 0.024 (between GZ and NW). Through geographical population structure analysis, significant divergence was observed among all samples and partial populations. Bayesian inference (BI), neighbor-joining (NJ) and unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) trees were constructed to reveal the molecular phylogeny and population structure of A. carmichaelii in western China. Results indicated that the geographical topography might control its genetic diversity. In the end, the suitable germplasm provenances were recommended for Daodi agricultural farms in the future. (C) 2018 Friends Science Publishers