Genetic diversity analysis and potential suitable habitat of Chuanminshen violaceum for climate change

Abstract

To provide a scientific basis for the sustainable development of C. violaceum, we correctly identified the different germplasm resources and obtained excellent germplasm resources. In this study, MaxEnt was used to predict the distribution range of C. violaceum in China under current and future climate scenarios and explain the impact of environmental variables on its distribution. An SRAP (sequence-related amplified polymorphism) molecular marker was used to analyse the genetic diversity of the plant. The results showed the areas of the total, most, moderately and poorly suitable habitats of C. violaceum were 69.93 × 104 km2, 7.77 × 104 km2, 12.68 × 104 km2 and 49.49 × 104 km2, respectively. The most suitable habitat was concentrated in central and eastern Sichuan, and scattered in Chongqing and Hubei. Under SS1–2.6, SSP2–4.5 and SSP5–8.5 scenarios in 2050s and 2090s, the area of the most suitable habitat would decrease by 25.13%–34.88%. The centroid of the most suitable habitat would move to the west by 45.44 km (SSP1–2.6), 42.15 km (SSP2–4.5) and 37.72 km (SSP5–8.5) in the future. Annual precipitation (bio12), minimum temperature of the coldest month (bio6), precipitation of coldest quarter (bio19), temperature annual range (bio7), elevation (El) and mean UV-B of highest month (UV-B3) were identified as the dominant environmental variables related to the distribution of C. violaceum. A total of 374 bands were amplified by 37 primer pairs, of which 283 bands were polymorphic, and the polymorphic percentage was 75.67%. The analysis of molecular variance showed higher percentages of genetic variation within the population. All the accessions could be distinguished by SRAP markers. The cluster analysis results showed that 63 accessions were classified into 7 groups, which were correlated with the geographical distribution of the accessions to some degree. The accessions from Langzhong and Qingbaijiang had higher diversity. These results suggest that strategic transplantation of C. violaceum from particular geographic locations could help make the species more resilient to climate change and slow the contraction of the species' distribution.