Preliminary Application of ISSR Markers in the Genetic Relationship Analysis of Tea Plants

Inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) is a kind of effective molecular marker developed on the basis of microsatellite, or simple sequence repeat (SSR). ISSR markers were applied to detect the relationship of the thirty-nine cultivars of tea plants. Fifteen primers, selected from fourty primers, were used to amplify the tea samples one hundred and fourty-three DNA bands were amplified, of which one hundred and thirty-one bands were polymorphic.The percentage of polymorphic bands was 91.6%.By cluster analysis based on ISSR markers using UPGMA,the genetic similarity was from 0.21 to 0.95. The GS was the greatest between Manqilan and Zhuyeqilan, and they had the highest genetic similarity and the smallest genetic distance.The GS between Chongqinpipacha and Yinghong 1 was the smallest and they had the lowest genetic similarity and the greatest genetic difference. Cluster analysis classified the 39 cultivars into 3 major groups (GS=0.20). Chongqinpipacha and Yinghong 1 fell into one group, belong to primitive form Jiulongzhu and Huanglong also fell into one group. The rest formed the third group. The results suggest that ISSR is a useful tool for molecular genetic diversity and relationship analysis of tea cultivars.