OBJECTIVETo investigate the genetic relationships of Erigeron breviscapus at the molecular biology level.

METHODThirty seven germplasm resources of E. breviscapus which collected from Yunnan, Sichuang and Guizhou province in 2005 were analyzed by Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and cluster analysis based on NTSYS2.

RESULTA total of 10 primers were screened, and 107 bands were amplified, among which 94 (87.85%) bands were found to be polymorphic. Thirty seven germplasm resources of E. breviscapus were clustered into 3 groups at genetic distance 0.36, the I group include in 9 germplasm resources collected from Mile, Qiubei, Luxi, Gejiu, and Yanshan of south east of Yunnan province; the II group included 8 germplasm resources collected from Gucheng, and shangrila of north west of Yunnan province, and Mile and Qiubei of south east of Yunnan province; the III group included in 20 germplasm resources collected from the center of Yunnan province, north east of Yunnan province, Sichuan province, and Guizhou province.

CONCLUSIONThere were abundant genetic diversity in the germplasm resources of E. breviscapus, and the genetic relationships are closely related to geographical distance where they were collected.