Abstract:To explore the genetic diversity of Camellia sinensis ‘Tianshancaicha’ germplasm resources, the genetic background of 143 ‘Tianshancaicha’ germplasm resources and their genetic relationship were analyzed by using SSR molecular marker technology, with local tea tree germplasm resources from other production areas in Ningde City as references. The results showed that 6 pairs of primers amplified a total of 55 alleles, with an average of 9.166; the average observed heterozygosity, expected heterozygosity, Shannon index and PIC were 0.649, 0.779, 1.870 and 0.742, respectively. The 143 germplasm resources from different production areas could be divided into 5 groups by genetic cluster analysis. Among them, 112 ‘Tianshancaicha’ germplasm resources (including wild bitter tea trees in Jiaocheng) were scattered in different groups, indicating that they might share the same genetic background as ‘Mindencaicha’. The gene flow among different production areas was 2.225, suggesting that the gene exchange among ‘Mindencaicha’ was relatively strong. So, there was a phenomenon of cross-inheritance among the ‘Tianshancaicha’ germplasm resources, with significant genetic differences and rich genetic diversity, which can assist in the selection of core and excellent resources.