Abstract
Houttuynia cordata is an important traditional Chinese herb with unresolved genetics and taxonomy, which lead to potential problems in the conservation and utilization of the resource. Inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers were used to assess the level and distribution of genetic diversity in 226 individuals from 15 populations of H. cordata in China. ISSR analysis revealed low genetic variations within populations but high genetic differentiations among populations. This genetic structure probably mainly reflects the historical association among populations. Genetic cluster analysis showed that the basal clade is composed of populations from Southwest China, and the other populations have continuous and eastward distributions. The structure of genetic diversity in H. cordata demonstrated that this species might have survived in Southwest China during the glacial age, and subsequently experienced an eastern postglacial expansion. Based on the results of genetic analysis, it was proposed that as many as possible targeted populations for conservation be included.
Highlights
Saururaceae, a member of paleoherbs, is an ancient family with six species in four genera, i.e., Anemopsis, Gymnotheca, Houttuynia and Saururus [1]
It is critical to arrest this dearth of information on this important natural resource and study the genetic diversity of the remaining population
A few population-specific bands were observed in the data set
Summary
Saururaceae, a member of paleoherbs, is an ancient family with six species in four genera, i.e., Anemopsis, Gymnotheca, Houttuynia and Saururus [1]. H. cordata Thunb is the only species in the genus Houttuynia [2,3]. This herb propagates by formation and separation of underground stems and by parthenogenesis [4,5], sexual reproduction has not yet been determined. It is distributed mainly in the central, southeastern and southwestern regions of China, and extends to Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia, where it grows in moist, shady places. It is critical to arrest this dearth of information on this important natural resource and study the genetic diversity of the remaining population
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