Assessment of genetic diversity among chickpea cultivars of India using RAPD markers

Abstract

Sixty eight chickpea cultivars of India belonging to both Kabuli and Desi types were studied for the diversity using 60 RAPD primers. Among them 50 were found to be polymorphic. On the average 3.55 loci per marker was found for the entire population of 68 cultivars. Based on the banding pattern, the cluster analysis was done using UPGMA and the dendrogram was prepared. The similarity coefficient ranged from 0.71 to 0.90 among the genotypes. The PCA analysis also supported the finding from the dendrogram. It was found that the desi and Kabuli types did not segregate into two distinct groups which indicated that perhaps very few genes were responsible for the differentiation of chickpea in to Desi and Kabuli types during their evolution. In order to broaden the genetic base of the chickpea germplasm of India, efforts should be made to utilize the exotic germplasm and the wild relatives.