Genetic diversity evaluation of Chrysanthemum indicum L. by medicinal compounds and molecular biology tools

Genetic variation and structure in 36 wild populations of Chrysanthemum indicum L. were assessed using chemical and molecular analyses in this paper. Using 24 selected ISSR primers 238 bands were generated, of which 205 bands were polymorphic (86.13%), and with 28 selected SRAP primer combinations 290 amplified bands were observed with 253 polymorphic bands (87.22%). The statistical results indicated that there was a high genetic differentiation among populations (GST 0.421 and 0.436). The UPGMA clustering results using ISSR, SRAP or ISSR + SRAP combination showed the genetic distance had no significant correlation with geographic distance. However, cluster results based on the contents of quercetin, luteolin, apigenin and acacetin did not keep in good accordance with molecular analysis, indicating that environmental and genetic factors may play an essential role in determining the bioactive compound levels of C. indicum.