Molecular Characterization of Okra Genotypes Through RAPD and SSR Markers

Abstract

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) is an important nutritious vegetable. Despite its high economic and industrial value, very little attention has been paid to assess genetic diversity of okra at molecular level. For effective conservation and proper deployment of germplasm, a study on genetic diversity analysis for fiber quality traits of okra germplasm was conducted with Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA as well as simple sequence repeat markers were utilized to evaluate the genetic diversity among ten genotypes viz., GAO 5, AOL 12–55, AOL 10–22, AOL 13–73, AOL 13–75, AOL 13–88, AOL 13–90, Parbhanikranti, Pusasawani and wild type. A set of 15 RAPD primers were tested, total of 153 RAPD scorable fragments were produced of which all alleles were observed to be polymorphic. PIC values ranged from 0.77 to 0.92 with an average value of 0.84. The genotypes were broadly divided into two clusters. Cluster II included only wild type genotype. Sub cluster A1 comprised of genotype GAO 5. For SSR all 15 primers showed amplification and produced a total of 31 bands. The genetic distance (GD) among the okra genotypes ranged from 0.18 to 0.60. The highest GD (0.60) was detected between GAO 5 and Wild type, while the lowest GD (0.18) was observed between AOL 13–73 and AOL 13–88. The average observed mean heterozygosity was 0.60 and observed mean percentage of polymorphic loci was 67%. The diversity obtained could be exploited in the program of selection and varietal improvement of okra.