Objective To study the genetic diversity of Sinopodophyllum hexandrum so as to provide basic molecular genetic evidence for protecting and exploiting the resource of S.hexandrum.Methods Six populations of S.hexandrum were analyzed by DALP molecular markers.To make up the genetic diversity correlation data by PopGene 1.31 software and cluster by UPGMA method,and establish the dendrogram.The tree was subsequently visualized with Treeview software.Results Five primer groups were screened and a total of 150 DNA fragments were amplified,among which 104 were polymorphic,i.e.the percentage of polymorphic bands(PPB) was 69.33%,the average number of DNA polymorphic band amplified by each primer group was 20.8 and the average PPB was 14.22%.In the six populations,the total observed number of alleles(Na) was 1.693 3 and the average Na was 1.142 2;The total effective number of alleles(Ne) was 1.417 1 and the average Ne was 1.083 8;The total Nei′s gene diversity(H) was 0.244 3 and the average H was 0.048 8;The total Shannon′s information index(I) was 0.364 3 and the average I was 0.073 0;The total gene diversity(Ht) was 0.244 3 while the gene diversity within a population(Hs) was 0.048 7.The coefficient of gene differentiation(Gst) was 0.800 5 between populations,namely 80.05% genetic variation occurring between populations and the rest 19.95% within population,and estimated gene flow(Nm) was 0.124 6.Conclusion The result indicats that S.hexandrum has much larger genetic differentiation among populations and gene flow has been blocked.This might be a result of species breeding system and population habitat.