Abstract: In the present study, 11 pairs of SRAP primers were selected from 126 combinations and applied to analyze genetic diversity of 514 samples from 19 populations of Camellia meiocarpa in its whole distribution area. The results showed that a total of 226 fragments was amplified, and the average amplified fragments of each primer pair were 20.55. There were 226 polymorphic bands, and the percentage of polymorphic bands (PPB) was 100%. The genetic distance between 19 populations ranged from 0.021 6 to 0.164 5, indicating that their genetic relationship was very close. The UPGMA clustering showed that the all populations, apart from 3 populations of Jiangxi Province and 6 populations of Fujian Province, were not clustered together according to their geographical locations. The PPB, Nei’s genetic diversity index(H) and Shannon’s information index(I) of different populations were 84.96%-95.58%, 0.321 3-0.388 7 and 0.473 2-0.567 6, respectively. At species level, the three parameters were 100%, 0.422 3 and 0.612 6, respectively, showing rich genetic diversity at both population and species levels of C. meiocarpa. The molecular variance analysis displayed the genetic variation mainly existed within populations (86.58%) and few among them (13.42%) in all genetic variation.

Key words: Camellia meiocarpa, SRAP markers, genetic diversity