Objective: To investigate the influence of environment on the genetic structure and chemical ingredients of different Codonopsis species.
Methods: Amplified fragment length polymorphism( AFLP) molecular markers were used to analyze the genetic polymorphism of Codonopsis species from 24 different populations,and high performance liquid chromatography( HPLC) fingerprints were performed to analyze the chemical ingredients of 10 batches of Codonopsis roots.
Results: According to species classification,the 24 populations were categorized into three groups by UPGMA cluster method. The samples of Codonopsis pilosula var. modesta introduced from Wenxian( Gansu Province) and Jiuzhaigou County( Sichuan Province) were clustered into Group Ⅰ. The Codonopsis tangshen population introduced from Banqiao( Hubei Province) was clustered into Group Ⅱ. The populations from Codonopsis pilosula introduced to Shanxi Province GAP base,and the wild and cultured populations of Codonopsis pilosula collected from Shanxi Province were into Group Ⅲ. The similarity of HPLC fingerprints among three Codonopsis species introduced into the same environment was over 0. 8.
Conclusion: Genetic differences of three Codonopsis species from original areas and Codonopsis species introduced into Shanxi Province were caused by their inter-species genetic characteristic. Meanwhile, the similarities of genetic backgrounds in Codonopsis species were related to geographic space, and chemical ingredients of Codonopsis were easily influenced by the cultivation environment.