Tropical Agricultural Research (May 2018)

Molecular diversity analysis of conserved <i>Capsicum chinense</i> Jacq. germplasm in Sri Lanka

  • N. H. L. D. L. D. Nanayakkara,
  • S. K. Wasala,
  • N. M. Ubeysekara,
  • K. G. C. N. Jayarathne,
  • I. P. Wickremasinghe

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4038/tar.v29i2.8291
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 29, no. 2
pp. 218 – 224

Abstract

Read online

Among the Capsicum species, Capsicum chinense has the highest pungency, the highest antioxidant activity and a wide genetic diversity. This study was conducted to evaluate the genetic diversity of C. chinense (Nai miris) germplasm conserved at the Plant Genetic Resources Centre, Gannoruwa, Sri Lanka. Twenty five C .chinense germplasm, two C. annuum, two C. frutescens and one C. baccatum were analysed using 27 Simple Sequence Repeat markers. Total number of amplified alleles was 108 which varied from 1 to 6 per locus. The mean polymorphism information content value was 0.46. Dendogram based on Nei’s genetic distances showed three main clusters where 88% of C. chinense germplasm was grouped into one cluster and C. annuum and C. frutescens were separated into two clusters. A high genetic diversity was observed within C. chinense cluster. The genetic diversity identified in this study will be useful for correct identification, conservation and breeding activities of Capsicum species.

Keywords