Genetic diversity of food-medicinal spp. in China: Insights from chloroplast genome.

OBJECTIVE

Goji (fruits of spp.) is commonly consumed as food and medicine. The increasing market demand for goji has led to its wide cultivation and broad breeding, which might cause loss of genetic diversity. This study aims to uncover the genetic diversity of the cultivated and wild .

METHODS

The chloroplast genome (CPG) of 34 accessions of Chinese food-medicinal spp., including the popular cultivars and their wild relatives, was re-sequenced and assembled, based on which the genetic diversity was evaluated.

RESULTS

Sequence structural comparison shows that CPG is comparatively conserved within species. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that CPG is sufficient for the discrimination of species; combined with nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (Nr ITS) sequences, materials with mixed genetic backgrounds can be identified. Nucleotide diversity analysis reveals that the modern cultivars are probably with a common maternal parent, while the wild accessions are with higher level of genetic diversity.

CONCLUSION

For the first time this study reveals the intraspecies genetic diversity of spp. using CPG, highlighting the urgent conservation demand of wild genetic resources of . Our study also demonstrates that CPG provides crucial evidence for identification of species with mixed genetic backgrounds and highlights the importance of the wild relatives in genetic diversity conservation. This CPG-based technology will contribute to the sustainable development of medicinal plants broadly.