Genetic Relationship and Diversity Analysis in Arecanut (Areca catechu L.) Genotypes using Molecular Markers

Abstract

Background: Arecanut (Areca catechu L.) is an important plantation crop of India belongs to the family Arecaceae. As it is a highly cross-pollinated crop there is a significant difference among the genotypes. Morphological traits used for determining diversity and relationships among genotypes or variety are prone to environmental influences. Thus, the usefulness of molecular markers has been investigated as a means of characterizing and discriminating difference more precisely. Therefore, the present study was carried out to assess the genetic relationship and diversity among the arecanut genotypes by employing RAPD, ISSR and SSR markers. Methods: A total of 11 genotypes are being grown in University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences (UAHS), Shivamogga, Karnataka, India, which includes both local and exotic collections. These 11 genotypes were evaluated for genetic variations using molecular markers viz., random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) and simple sequence repeats (SSR). Result: All the markers studied showed significant polymorphism among the genotypes. Jaccard’s genetic similarity coefficient values of RAPD, ISSR and SSR markers were found in the range of 0.56-0.76, 0.55-0.74 and 0.52-0.91. The higher similarity was observed between the genotypes Mohitnagar and Mangala, as well as Theerthahalli Local and Hirehalli Dwarf. The genotypes Maidan Local and Cameroon were placed in very distinct clusters, showing that they are having very distinct traits. The dendrogram prepared using SSR data separately and combining data of RAPD, ISSR, SSR markers showed similar results. Therefore, employing SSR markers for further studies will be more useful for identifying germplasm for varietal improvement programmes.