Abstract
Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis L.) is a medicinal plant valued for the treatment of sore eyes and mouths. Although cultivation of the plant has helped meet growing demand, goldenseal is still considered a threatened or endangered species throughout much of its range in North America. In an effort to assess possible conservation strategies for goldenseal genetic resources, levels of genetic diversity within and among cultivated and wild populations were quantified. RAPD analysis was used to examine six cultivated and 11 wild populations sampled from North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The average percentage of polymorphic bands in cultivated and wild populations was low (16.8 and 15.5 %, respectively), and geographic range did not predict the level of genetic diversity. Most of the genetic variation (81.2 %) was within populations; only 3.6 % was partitioned between cultivated and wild populations. Our results differed from a previous study which concluded that genetic differences were greater among than within populations. The results of the current study indicate that, although goldenseal grows clonally and in dense patches, a mixed mating system in which both selfing and outcrossing occur is also operating. We therefore suggest that the ex situ conservation of individual plants within populations, chosen carefully to account for clonal propagation in situ, is an appropriate strategy for sustaining the genetic diversity of goldenseal.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Dr. Sarah Bacon and Dr. Craig Woodard of the Biology Department at Mount Holyoke College for their laboratory assistance. We are also grateful to Dr. Suzanne Sanders and Dr. Eric Burkart for finding plant samples, and to Dr. Jeanine Davis, of North Carolina State University, and Dr. Edward Fletcher, Strategic Sourcing Inc., for plant samples. The manuscript benefited greatly from discussion with Dr. Hongwei Cai, of China Agricultural University. We thank Sigma Xi for funding travel expenses to collect samples. This manuscript (Paper No. 3462) is based upon work supported by the Cooperative State Research Extension, Education Service, US Department of Agriculture, The Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station, and the Stockbridge School of Agriculture under Project No. MAS000729.
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Inoue, M., Kelley, K.J., Frary, A. et al. A measure of genetic diversity of goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis L.) by RAPD analysis. Genet Resour Crop Evol 60, 1201–1207 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-013-9962-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-013-9962-7