Assessment of Genetic Diversity in Sugarcane Germplasm Using ISSR and SSR Markers

Abstract

Molecular diversity within and between Saccharum species clones and elite commercial hybrid varieties was studied using intersimple sequence repeat (ISSR) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. The present study was performed to characterize 81 sugarcane genotypes. A total of 13 ISSR primers used and produced 65 amplified fragments, of which 63 (96.5 %) were polymorphic. The Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) value ranged from 0.11 (UBC824) to 0.45 (UBC825) primers with an average value of 0.28. The primer UBC 817 and UBC 825 exhibited highest resolving power (Rp) value 3.8 among thirteen primers. Genetic similarity (GS) by Jaccard’s similarity coefficient ranged from 0.23 to 0.95 with a mean of 0.59. Of the 79 alleles amplified by 28 SSRs primers showed 76 alleles, which were found to be polymorphic (96.2 %). The PIC value ranged from 0.06 (VSICRAD4) to 0.55 (VSICRAD26) primers with an average value of 0.17. The primer VSICRAD23 exhibited highest resolving power (Rp) value 4.3 among 28 primers. The GS by Jaccard’s similarity coefficient ranged from 0.11 to 0.91 with a mean of 0.51. Dendrograms constructed using the UPGMA cluster analysis revealed low level of correlation between genetic similarities based on pedigree and DNA profiles. The ISSR and SSR amplification proved to be valuable method for assessing genetic diversity among sugarcane complex and their related wild varieties and for identification of the cultivars.