Fingerprint Construction and Genetic Diversity Analysis of Tree Peony Collected from Hunan Province Based on SSR Markers

To protect and identify the varieties of tree peony, DNA fingerprints were constructed and genetic diversity was analyzed with simple sequence repeat markers with tailed primer M13 (TP-M13-SSR) technology in 18 local tree peony varieties in Hunan Province of China. Twenty-four out of 131 pairs of polymorphic primers showing stable amplification and good capillary electrophoresis peaks were selected. The Shannon information indexes (I), polymorphism information contents (PICs), and differentiation rates of eight primer pairs were higher than average. Unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) dendrograms indicated that the genetic similarity coefficients of the 18 Hunan tree peony varieties ranged from 0.57 to 0.86, and Paeonia suffruticosa ‘Ning Xiang Hong’ (0.57) was classified as a separate group. The 18 varieties could be completely distinguished with two pairs of primers. The variety names, flower types, fingerprinting codes, and other information were included in the quick response (QR) code, which provides a basis for the molecular identification of Hunan tree peony varieties. The construction of DNA fingerprinting of tree peony varieties in Hunan is important for its protection. Additional key words: capillary electrophoresis, molecular markers, quick response (QR) code, simple sequence repeat with tailed primer M13 (TP-M13-SSR), unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA)