RAPD ANALYSIS IN ANDROGRAPHIS PANICULATA (BURM. F.) NESS PLANT TYPES

Abstract

RAPD (random amplification of polymorphic DNA) markers have been used to eluci date genetic distinctiveness between/among 11 (selfed control lines and 10 true breeding M 4 macro mutant lines) plant types of Andrographis paniculata (Burm. F.) Ness (Family: Acanthaceae; medicinal plant species with immense therapeutic uses) . O ut o f the 30 RAPD primers, 25 reproduced a total of 240 bands of which 170 ( 70.83 %) were polymorphic. The average number of fragments amplified by RAPD markers across the plant types has been 9.6 with a range of 5 to 1 9 (size 190 bp to 1065 bp ) . RAPD primers studie d across the plant types varied in relatio n to scorable fragments , polymorphism percentage ( 28.57 % to 90.91 %), polymorphism information content – PIC (0.07 5 13 to 0. 47230 ) and marker index – MI ( 3.41 to 3 6 . 34 ). R esults obtained for Shannon diversity index - I (2.3 514 to 2.39 85 ), genetic diversity/locus - H ep (0.904 to 0.911) and effective allele/locus – A ep (10.41 to 11.23) suggested narrow genetic base of the studied plant types . Band spectra analyzed by UPGMA (Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mea n) showed 6 major clusters and a close relatedness between/among the plant types, which may be significant for designing efficient breeding programme towards crop improvement . Upon considering different genetic parameters, taken together, it seems that OPA 0 6 , OPA 08 - 09, OPB 0 5 , OP C 0 1 - 04 , OP C 0 6 and OPC 0 9 are efficient and effective RAPD primers for molecular screening of A. paniculata germplasms.