Abstract
The present study focuses on the insights of intraspecific variability to address questions related to diversity among the populations of Panax assamicus Ban. (Araliaceae). Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) from 20 populations, belonging to 3 geographical locations of North-eastern region of India (Darjeeling area of West Bengal, Meghalaya and Manipur), were sequenced. Analysis of nucleotide sequences reveals polymorphism among the populations, with the highest in West Bengal [pi=0.05034, theta w=0.05033 (0.00537)] and the lowest in Meghalaya [pi=0.00139, theta w=.00132 ( 0.00093)]. However, total variance was less in Meghalaya (0.381) as compared to West Bengal (12.675) and Manipur (3.111). UPGMA analyses were conducted on the ITS datasets. The populations from Darjeeling area (West Bengal) and Meghalaya grouped according to their geographic location but the samples collected from Manipur did not form a single cluster and were found to be mixed with the populations collected from Darjeeling and Meghalaya. Our surveys have shown that the populations of P. assamicus are fast vanishing from their natural habitats due to overexploitation. Initiative needs to be taken immediately to conserve the diversity of this medicinally important taxon.