Abstract:In order to further understand the genetic diversity and genetic divergence of control pollinated progenies of Larix gmelinii var. principis rupprechtii, we utilized 18 pairs of SSR primers in 257 samples from 7 families. (1) A total of 72 alleles were detected with a mean of 4 alleles per primer and effective number of alleles of each SSR marker ranged from 1.247-3.411. (2) The number of effective alleles was equally 2.135 in each family. The observed heterozygosity (Ho), expected heterozygosity (He) and Shannon information index (I) were 0.518, 0.502 and 0.846, respectively. Among the 7 families, the family of 55 had the richest genetic diversity, while the family of 56 had the lowest one. (3) Gene differentiation coefficient was 0.113, illustrating the intermediate level of genetic differentiation. The result of AMOVA showed that 82% of genetic variation was within the populations (families), while the remaining 18% was among populations (families). (4) 49 family was far from others in the clustering analysis; 55 family was the nearest to 59 family so that they had the closest relationship. (5) According to the results of the genetic diversity and genetic divergence, the core of families and individuals were estimated. The 5 families selected was accounting for 96% of genetic diversity. In addition, 15-20 individuals can be selected in a family with less number of individuals, 35 individuals can be selected when a family had more individuals. The result of this study has important theoretical and practical significance in elected populations for breeding and protected genetic diversity in seed orchard of Larix gmelinii var. principis rupprechtii.