Abstract:

Nested variance and cluster analysis were performed to assess the phenotypic diversity of
80 Chinese cherry landraces（Prunus pseudocerasus Lindl.）from seven distribution regions. A total of 26
morphological traits including leaf，fruit and stone phenotype were applied in this study. The results
showed：（1）Significant differences were detected among 12 qualitative characters，with Shannon-Wiener
indexes ranged from 0.61 to 1.64. The genetic traits with high diversity also displayed in fruit shape peel
color，leaf shape and stone lateral shape.（2）For 14 quantitative traits，significant variance was detected
both among and within populations. The average variation coefficient（CV）among quantitative traits is
9.93%，with the highest value 24.80% in carpopodium length，and the lowest in apical view index （6.61%）. Among 7 distribution regions，the highest value of CV was detected in Yunnan（12.92%），
and lowest in Anhui（7.42%）. （3）Five principal components with the variance cumulative contribution
rate of 80.9434% were obtained based on the principal component analysis，which could account for the
majority variation of the traits. （4）Based on Nei’s genetic distance cluster analysis and principal coordinate
analysis（PCoA），all the 80 accessions were classified into two major clusters. The accessions from
Shandong，Henan and Anhui province classified as a cluster，and the individuals from Sichuan，Yunnan，
Guizhou and Chongqing formed another one. This result indicates that Chinese cherry landraces in
different geographic regions exhibit difference of phenotypic diversity，and this might be caused by
various domestication processes from different geographic sites.

Key words: Chinese cherry, genetic diversity, landrace, phenotypic trait