The genetic potential of Taxus sumatrana medicinal plants in Kerinci Regency

Abstract

Taxus -a taxol-producing medicinal plant that mostly found in highland area- is a species in genus Taxus and family Taxaceae. This study was aimed to determine the genetic diversity within and between population of T. sumatrana in Kerinci Regency, i.e. Mount Kerinci and Mount Tujuh, based on altitude. The genetic diversity was analyzed with RAPD analysis. The altitude was categorized as low (<2000 m asl) and high (>2000 m asl). The cambium extraction was carried out based on CTAB method. DNA amplification was conducted in RAPD method on machine of PCR System 9700 Applied Biosystems. Nine RAPD primers were used in this study. The results revealed that the average of polymorphic locus was 53.89%. Genetic diversity within population was fairly high with value of 0.1799 and Shannon index of 0.2746. Among the four populations, the population of High Tujuh showed the highest level of variability (He=0.2044). The Nei genetic distance between populations was ranging from 0.0567 to 0.1302. The potential of High Tujuh population is still large enough so that it can still be explored for genetic conservation and cultivated as a taxol-producing material which is useful for medicine.