Abstract: Amygdalus ledebouriana Schlecht (wild almond) is not only one of the rare wild plant resources, but also an endangered plant species. A. ledebouriana is only distributed in Xinjiang in northwest China. Chloroplast encoding intergenic genes (matK gene sequence) of A. ledebouriana and its sibling species were sequenced to investigate the phylogenetic relationship of wild almond, cultivated almond and the sibling species. Genetic relationship was inferred from the analysis of interspecific genetic distance based on Kimur[JP8]a’[JP]s twoparameter model and the neighborjoining (NJ) phylogenetic tree. The preliminary results indicated that there was a closer genetic distance between A. ledebouriana and A. mongolica and between A. ledebouriana and A. triloba, and a further genetic distance between A. ledebouriana and cultivated almond and between A. ledebouriana and the species of subgenus Amygdalus (A. persica, A. persica var. compressa and A. davidiana). Cultivated almond was more closely related to A. persica, A. persica var.compressa and ]A. davidiana than to the three species of almond, i.e. A. ledebouriana, A. mongolica and A. triloba.

Key words: Amygdalus ledebouriana Schlecht, matK sequence, genetic relationship, phylogenetic tree, Xinjiang