Analysis of genetic diversity in Prunus mira Koehne ex Sargent populations using AFLP markers.

Prunus mira Koehne ex Sargent (syn. Persica mira (Koehne) Kov. et Kostina), native to China, is an excellent fruit tree due to its high ecological and economical value. However, there is limited knowledge on the genetic information of P. mira. In this study, the genetic relationships of 83 P. mira accessions from five populations were assessed using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). The results showed that AFLP was a powerful tool to detect levels of genetic diversity of natural populations in P. mira. The similarity coefficient between accessions ranged from 0.12 to 0.76, with an average 0.57. 83 accessions were clustered into two major clusters at similarity coefficient of 0.225. The highest values of N, H and I occurred in ML population. Most of the genetic variations occur within population. There is no close relationship between geographic distance and genetic distance. At the same time, ex situ conservation needs to be established for P. mira. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]