Abstract: The ISSR markers were used to analysis the genetic diversity of 12 important wild tea plants in the areas of Sichuan and Chongqing. Seven primers were screened from 60 random primers, and a total of 146 DNA bands were amplified, among which 139(95.2%) were polymorphic. The average number of DNA bands was 21. ISSR data matrix was built according to this method which is to record 1 when there is an amplified band, and 0 when there is not. Nei' s gene diversity (H) and Shannon's information index (I) were 0.20 and 0.34, respectively. Through the UPGAM cluster analysis of 12 wild tea plants, the genetic similarity among all the tested wild teas ranged from 0.37 to 0.71, averaging 0.51. Based on it, a DNA molecular dendrogram was established. The dendrogram divided the 12 wild teas into three groups.

Key words: wild tea plant (Camellia sinensis), ISSR, genetic diversity, cluster analysis