J Syst Evol ›› 2016, Vol. 54 ›› Issue (5): 491-501.DOI: 10.1111/jse.12195

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

A genetic delineation of Patchouli (Pogostemon cablin) revealed by specific-locus amplified fragment sequencing

Hui-Run Huang1, Wei Wu1, Ji-Xiu Zhang2, Ling-Jian Wang3, Yong-Ming Yuan2, and Xue-Jun Ge1*   

  1. 1Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
    2Research and Development Centre, Firmenich Aromatics (China) Co., Ltd., Shanghai 201108, China
    3National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China
  • Received:2015-11-14 Published:2016-09-08

Abstract: Patchouli plant (Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth.) is of important economic value, and it has been grown for medicinal use for more than 1000 years in China and Southeast Asia. There are limited data to underpin the genetic and genomic resource management for Patchouli. Herein, we used specific-locus amplified fragment sequencing to generate a genetic delineation of P. cablin collected from Vietnam, South China, and Indonesia (Sumatra). In total, 15 457 835 reads, 61 334 specific-locus amplified fragments, and 511 reliable single nucleotide polymorphisms were obtained. On the basis of model-based grouping and neighbor-joining trees, we divided the studied accessions into six distinct groups: one Vietnamese group, two Chinese groups, and three Indonesian groups. We also measured the contents of patchouli alcohol and pogostone; all accessions belonged to patchoulol-type except for three accessions from the species' northernmost distribution in China, which have a high content of pogostone. The results from both genetic structure and chemotypes were highly consistent with the possible migration history of Patchouli. Accordingly, ex situ conservation should be immediately established for Patchouli, particularly for the pogostone-type and the germplasm in Vietnam.

Key words: chemotypes, conservation, evolution, genetic diversity, SLAF-seq