Analysis of genetic diversity of Axonopus compressus using ISSR markers

Axonopus compressus is perennial herbaceous plants and used in south China. Genetic diversity of 64 carpetgrass accessions (cultivar) was analyzed using the ISSR markers. The results showed that 25 ISSR primers generated 208 distinct bands (300~1 500 bp), 196 (94.23%) of which were polymorphic bands. The number of observed bands ranged from 4 to 15, with average of 8.3. The genetic similarity coefficient is between 0.46~0.99. Unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic means (UPGMA) clustered 64 accessions (cultivar) into three groups, and not all samples from the same region belonged to the same group. ISSR markers has potential in marker-assisted breeding and the assessment of genetic diversity in wild germplasm resources of carpetgrass.