Abstract:
Objective Genetic diversity and relationships of 56 species of Anthurium andraeanum were analyzed using the inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) molecular marker technology for breeding and improvement of germplasms and resource management.
Method For the collected Anthurium varieties, 100 UBC primers were screened for the polymorphic ones. Using the universal primers, an ISSR molecular marker system was constructed. The UPGMA cluster analysis was performed, and the Nei's gene diversity and Shannon's information indices calculated on the PCR amplified products.
Result Ten polymorphic primers were obtained by screening the 100 UBC primers, and 99 bands amplified. Of the amplified bands, 95 were polymorphic with a rate of 95.96%. The analysis using POPGENE indicated the Nei’s gene diversity index (H) to be 0.303 6 and the Shannon’s information index (I) 0.458 5. Thus, the genetic diversity among the Anthurium varieties was high. The 56 varieties were classified into 12 groups.
Conclusion The ISSR results suggested a significant correlation between the clustered groups and sepal color of the flowering plants and the molecular marker technique applicable for the identification. Among the cultivars, Princess Alexia Violet, Fiorino, Sumi, Caixia, Thunderbird Luxury, Black Queen, and King exhibited unique traits among them with substantial genetic distances. They were considered potential candidates as female parent for breeding new varieties and should be preserved in the germplasm collection.