Genetic diversity of Robinia pseudoacacia populations in China detected by AFLP markers

The genetic diversity of ten Robinia pseudoacacia L. populations collected from China was analyzed by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) technique using ten primer combinations. A total of 752 amplified bands were obtained, among which 352 (46.8%) were polymorphic. At species level, the percentage of polymorphic loci (P) was 49.87%, the Shannon’s information index (I) was 0.2160, and the mean Nei’s gene diversity index (H) was 0.1403. At population level, P = 25.47%, I = 0.1381, and H = 0.0927. The genetic diversity within populations was higher than that among populations. The coefficient of gene differentiation among populations within species (Gst) was 0.390, which indicated that gene differentiation was mainly within the population, and between populations, it accounted for 33.90% of the total variation. Gene flow (Nm) between the populations was 0.975, suggesting that the gene exchange between populations was small. The UPGMA cluster analysis showed that the ten populations were divided into three major groups, and most individuals from the same population were clustered together. There was no significant correlation between the genetic diversity parameters (D, I _N , P, Ne, H, and I) and geographic and climatic factors (longitude, latitude, annual mean temperature, and annual mean precipitation). The results provide useful information about the level of genetic diversity, and it has a wide application prospect in Robinia pseudoacacia L. utilization and breeding in China.