Assessment of genetic diversity in Camellia oleifera Abel. accessions using inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) and start codon targeted (SCoT) polymorphic markers

Camellia oleifera Abel. is a cultivable plant with important economic value. It is very helpful for the scientific utilization, cultivation and preservation of germplasm resources through evaluating the genetic diversity. In this study, we estimated the genetic distances of 135 accessions of C. oleifera using ISSR and SCoT markers, respectively. The genetic dissimilarity coefficients of ISSR markers ranged from 0.56 to 1.00. And the accessions were divided into five groups. While the genetic dissimilarity coefficients of SCoT markers ranged from 0.62 to 1.00, the accessions were divided into four groups. The results demonstrated that C. oleifera germplasms perform a little genetic variation. This is the first report to evaluate the genetic diversity of different C. oleifera germplasms using the ISSR and SCoT molecular markers, and the results provide the useful foundation for plant breeding of C. oleifera.