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Gastrodia tuber and its component gastrodin have many pharmacological effects. The chemical fingerprints and gastrodin contents of eight Gastrodia populations were determined, and the genomic DNA polymorphism of the populations was investigated. Genetic distance coefficients among the populations were calculated using the DNA polymorphism data. A dendrogram of the genetic similarities between the populations was constructed using the genetic distance coefficients. The results indicated that the genomic DNA of Gastrodia tubers was highly polymorphic; the eight populations clustered into three major groups, and the gastrodin content varied greatly among these groups. There were obvious correlations among genetic makeup, gastrodin content, and place of origin. The ecological environments in Guizhou and Shanxi may be conducive to evolution and to gastrodin biosynthesis, and more suitable for cultivation of Gastrodia tubers. These findings may provide a scientific basis for overall genetic resource management and for the selection of locations for cultivating Gastrodia tubers.

Gastrodia elata Bl. is a famous and costful traditional Chinese medicine. Their genomic DNA fingerprints were investigated using a modified Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA method. DNA fragments common to all or to fine populations were identified and recovered. Five DNA fragments were proven not to be reported through DNA cloning, PCR identifying, nucleotide sequencing and bioinformatics analyses and were received in and recorded by NCBI GenBank. Gastrodine contents of the Gastrodia tuber samples were determined using high performance liquid chromatography technique. The distribution of the five DNA fragments in 9 Gastrodia elata Blue populations and the correlation with gastromedicine content were studied. The results show the distribution of these DNA sequences varied greatly among the populations whereby DNA Sequence 1 was the common and distinguishing molecular marker for all the populations studied and DNA Sequence 2 may relate to higher gastrodine content. In conclusion, these DNA marker sequences can be employed to identify genuine gastrodia tubers, better varieties and optimize their selection and cultivating.