Assessment of genetic diversity in a highly valuable medicinal plant Catharanthus roseus using molecular markers
Ranjan Kumar Shaw, Laxmikanta Acharya and Arup Kumar Mukherjee
ABSTRACT – Genetic diversity was evaluated among 14 cultivars of Catharanthus roscus using RAPD and ISSR markers. The RAPD primers resulted in the amplification of 56 bands, among which 46 (82%) bands were polymorphic. Four ISSR primers amplified 31 loci out of which 17 were polymorphic and 14 were monomorphic. The Jaccard’s similarity derived from the combined marker system showed that the varieties First Kiss Coral and Cooler Orchid were the most closely related cultivars, with 98% similarity. In the dendrogram constructed on the basis of both RAPD and ISSR data two clear clusters were obtained. The smaller cluster included C. roseus Cv Blue Pear and C. roseus Cv. Patricia White and the larger cluster was subdivided into two sub clusters with C. roseus Cv. First Kiss Polka Dot isolated from the rest of the cultivars. This may be useful for breeding for improved quality.