Article Low Divergence Among Natural Populations of Cornus kousa subsp. chinensis Revealed by ISSR Markers Jia-Qiu Yuan 1,2, Qin Fang 1,2, Guo-Hua Liu 3 and Xiang-Xiang Fu 1,2,* 1 Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China;
[email protected] (J.-Q.Y.);
[email protected] (Q.F.) 2 College of Forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China 3 College of Forestry, Jiangsu Vocational College of Agriculture and Forestry, Jurong 212400, China;
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[email protected] Received: 17 October 2019; Accepted: 22 November 2019; Published: 28 November 2019 Abstract: Research Highlights: Taking Chinese dogwood (Cornus kousa subsp. chinensis) as an example, the genetic characteristics of natural populations collected from main a distribution area were evaluated using intersimple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers to reveal the genetic basis for further selection and breeding. Background and Objectives: Chinese dogwood is a small understory tree that is widely distributed in China. Chinese dogwood has attracted interest for its potential horticultural and ornamental values, and its natural resource potential urgently needs to be estimated. Materials and Methods: In this study, the genetic diversity of 12 natural populations collected from six provinces containing 223 individuals was evaluated based on ISSR markers. Results: Relatively high levels of genetic diversity were found at both the population and individual levels. The Shannon’s diversity index (I) among individuals (0.504) was higher than that among populations (0.338). Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that genetic variation mainly existed within populations (61.55%) rather than among populations (38.45%).