Genetic diversity and population structure of (Theaceae), a limestone species with narrow geographic range, based on chloroplast DNA sequence and microsatellite markers.

is an endangered species with a narrow distribution in limestone hills of northern Guangxi and southern Guizhou provinces, China. We used one chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) fragment and 12 pairs of microsatellite (simple sequence repeat; SSR) markers to assess the genetic diversity and structure of 12 populations. A total of 99 alleles were detected for 12 polymorphic loci, and eight haplotypes and nine polymorphic sites were detected within 5200 bp of cpDNA. populations showed a low level of genetic diversity ( = 8,  = 0.759,  = 0.00042 for cpDNA,  = 3.931,  = 0.466 for SSRs), but high genetic differentiation between populations (  = 0.2159 for SSRs,  = 0.9318 for cpDNA). This can be attributed to the narrow distribution and limestone habitat of . STRUCTURE analysis divided natural populations into two groups, consistent with their geographical distribution. Thus, we suggest that five natural populations should be split into two units to be managed effectively.