Abstract:

Davidia involucrata which belongs to Nyssaceae section monotype genus is peculiar plant in China, being old origin and survivor of tropical flora of Tertiary Period, it is classified as the first-grade state protection plant. The genetic diversity and genetic variation within populations and inter-populations from 5D. involucrata natural populations by 13 primers have been studied based on RAPD analysis. The results showed that D. involucrata natural population had rich genetic diversity, but the difference was significant among the populations, and 26% of genetic variation existed among the populations, which was similar to endangered tree species of Liriodendron chinense and Cathaya argyrophylla in our country, but different from widely-distributed tree species. The result of the sampling method impacting on genetic diversity parameters showed that: effective number of alleles and genetic diversity took sample number influence relatively light, and genetic differentiation among the populations and gene flow took sample number influence relatively heavy. The study divided D. involucrata into 2 big provenance plots of southeast and northwest. The study on genetic diversity of D. involucrata will provide theory basis for developing studies on effective conservation and reasonable utilization of germ plasm resource from D. involucrata in the future.

Key words: Davidia involucrata, Population, RAPD, Genetic diversity