Genetic diversity and population structure of Chinese ginseng accessions using SSR markers

The need to preserve and use plant genetic resources is widely recognized, and the prospect of dwindling plant genetic diversity, coupled with increased demands on these resources, has made them a topic of global discussion. In the present study, the genetic diversity and population structure of 73 ginseng accessions collected from six regions in China were analyzed using eight simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Major allele frequencies ranged between 0.38 ~ 0.78, with a mean allele frequency value of 0.571. The number of alleles discovered ranged from 3 to 10 per accession, with a mean number of 7; 56 alleles were discovered in total. Gene diversity (GD) and polymorphic information content (PIC) values were similar to each other, and they ranged from 0.36 ~ 0.77 (mean 0.588) and 0.33 ~ 0.74 (mean 0.548), respectively. Accessions were divided into three clusters based on their phylogenetic relationships and genetic similarities, and although the populations were similar, they were not classified according to the region. Regional genetic diversity was also similar, with slight differences observed based on the number of accessions per region. It is expected that the findings of the present study can provide basic data for future studies on ginseng genetic diversity and for breeding ginseng cultivars.