Molecular genetic diversity in dual purpose and land races of pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.)

Abstract

Molecular genetic diversity was assessed among 32 dual purpose and land races of pigeonpea using 20 pigeonpea specific SSR markers. Among 20 markers, 15 markers revealed polymorphism, while five markers exhibited a monomorphic banding pattern. The polymorphic markers produced a total of 43 alleles with an average of 2.15 alleles per marker. The markers CcM 0008 and CcM 1026 produced the highest number of alleles (4). The Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) value of the markers ranged from 0.06 (PGM 16) to 0.64 (CcM 0008) with an average of 0.19. A dendrogram constructed using UPGMA distinguished 32 genotypes into 10 clusters. Cluster I was the largest with 15 genotypes followed by cluster V with five genotypes. The Neighbour- joining tree produced based on the weighted average for dissimilarity matrix grouped the 32 genotypes into eight groups. Among them group II was the largest comprising of 10 genotypes. Based on the molecular genetic diversity study using SSR markers, the genotypes Kunnathur local, CRG 13-01, BSR 1 and Pillayakothur local were found diverse among the genotypes and had good grain and vegetable pigeonpea traits could be used in the breeding programme. The results indicated that SSR markers provide a more definitive separation of clusters indicating a higher level of efficiency for determining the relationship among pigeonpea genotypes.

Keywords

• pigeonpea
• dual purpose
• land races
• genetic diversity