Genetic variation of species Tacca chantrieri in northern Vietnam using ISSR markers for conservation purposes

Abstract

Tacca chantrieri is a useful medicinal plant native to lowland tropical forests in northern Vietnam. However, it is threatened with extinction owing to habitat fragmentation and overexploitation. Genetic diversity in 5 natural populations of T. chantrieri was examined using 20 ISSR primers polymorphism. Our study showed that average PIC was 0.253 (0.018 - 0.460) and average PPB was 62.49 % (40- 85.71). 5 populations had modest genetic variability (Na = 1.384, Ne = 1.32, Ho = 0.182, He = 0.178 and I = 0.258) and the species level had a low value (Na = 1.892, Ne = 1.744, Ho = 0.293, He = 0.389 and I = 0.549). The lowest levels of genetic diversity were detected in Cuc Phuong population (Na = 1.135, Ne = 1.021, Ho = 0.091, He = 0.078 and I = 0.116) and the highest levels were detected in Ba Vi population (Na = 1.555, Ne = 1.436, Ho = 0.247, He = 0.242 and I = 0.350). A substantial positive connection between genetic distance and geographic distance was discovered using the Mantel test (R2 = 0.5086). The implications of the results of this study to conserve the genetic resources of T. chantrieri were discussed.