Molecular Phylogeography and Chemical Diversity of Cnidium monnieri (L.) Cusson: Implication for Quality Control, Evolution, and Conservation

Cnidium monnieri (L.) Cusson, a widely distributed plant, has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for a long time. For its medicinal values reflected by chemical variation, researches on high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) fingerprinting and molecular markers of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) were carried out. In the research, we analyzed the chemical composition qualitatively and quantitatively, and amplified the fragment of trnL-trnF and trnS-trnG in C. monnieri from twelve populations throughout the known distributions in China to make a better understanding of the chemical variance and evolutionary history and to reveal the genetic mechanism of the chemical variance in C. monnieri. The results suggested chemical variance and high genetic diversity with a significant phylogeographical pattern (N-ST > G(ST), P > 0.05), which showed restricted gene flow among the populations and significant geographical or environmental isolation. Climatic difference might play a key role in the present distribution of the species, resulting the chemical variance in the C. monnieri. These findings not only provide some references for evaluating the medicinal quality and selecting C. monnieri (L.) Cusson with good pharmacological properties, but also elucidate the evolutionary history of this medicinal herb and provide guidance for the methods of resource conservation.