Abstract: Aim In China, the typical desert plant Haloxylon persicum is only distributed in Gurbantünggüt Desert, Xinjiang. With the formation and expansion of the Quaternary desert, a large range of migration and expansion events occurred. The study of the genetic pattern and migration path of the species is helpful to further understand the distribution and evolution of Haloxylon persicum. Methods In this study, the natural distribution data of Haloxylon persicum were combined with the trnS-trnG, trnV and ITS sequences of different geographic populations, GIS spatial analysis, species distribution model, GIS diffusion path analysis, haplotype network analysis (Network) and molecular analysis of variance (AMOVA) were integrated to used to investigate the spatial genetic variation pattern of 12 naturally distributed populations of Haloxylon persicum in Gurbantünggüt Desert, including 106 individuals. And use maximum Entropy Model (MaxEnt) to simulate the suitable distribution pattern of Haloxylon persicum in the last glacial maximum and current climate. The analysis of population dynamics and dispersal paths during the late ice period will help to understand the genetic variation pattern of Haloxylon persicum among different geographic populations in Gurbantünggüt Desert. Important findings (1) The sequence length of trnS-trnG and trnV was 1?340 bp, and a total of 9 cpDNA haplotypes were defined. The sequence length of ITS1-ITS4 was 576 bp, and a total of 6 nrDNA haplotypes were defined. (2) The total genetic diversity (HT) of the population was 0.862 (cpDNA) and 0.777 (nrDNA) (p < 0.05), which was significantly higher than the average genetic diversity (HS) of the population (0.155 (cpDNA) and 0.217 (nrDNA)) (p > 0.05), and more than 76% of the genetic variation occurred in different sampled populations. (3) The mismatch distribution curve showed that Haloxylon persicum had a recent population expansion, and the dispersal path analysis showed that Haloxylon persicum had spread from west to east along the southern margin of Gurbantünggüt Desert since the last glacial maximum, under the current climate period, Haloxylon persicum still spread westward along the southern margin of the desert, but the migration amplitude was obviously reduced. Haloxylon persicum population in Gurbantünggüt Desert has high genetic diversity and significant genetic differentiation among populations. Since the last glacial maximum, Haloxylon persicum showed a diffusion mode of migration along the edge of the desert. The southern edge of the Gurbantünggüt Desert is the most important diffusion path of Haloxylon persicum and an important channel connecting its east and west populations.

Key words: Spatial genetic variation pattern, Dispersal corridor, trnS-trnG, trnV and ITS, Haloxylon persicum, Gurbantunggut Desert