ABSTRACT
Objective The genetic diversity of the natural populations of Gardenia jasminoides were investigated to provide scientific basis for its resources protection and rational utilization. Methods Fourteen pairs of EST-SSR primers were screened in 19 natural populations of 573 individuals to calculate the genetic parameters of G. jasminoides, and further cluster analysis was then carried out. Results Fourteen pairs of EST-SSR primers generated 75 loci, which showed high genetic diversity maintained in natural populations of G. jasminoides (He = 0.703). Mean population gene diversity (Nei) within populations was 0.603, the Shannon’s diversity index (I) was 1.10. Moderate genetic differentiation (Fst= 0.141) and high gene flow (Nm = 1.523) among populations have been showed too. AMOVA analysis revealed that genetic variation within populations was the main sources of total variation. The Mantle test showed there was no significant correlation between genetic distances and geographic distances. Moreover, significant bottlenecks effects in two-phased model of mutation (TPM) test in 73.7% populations were detected in recent history. Conclusion The results in this study indicated that high level genetic diversity were existed in the natural G. jasminoides populations.