Molecular characterization of pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.) germplasm by microsatellite markers

Abstract

Ten pigeonpea specific SSR markers were used to test the molecular diversity among 60 pigeonpea accessions. Six markers were polymorphic and four of them were monomorphic. Totally 22 alleles were produced by six polymorphic markers. The PIC value of the markers ranged from 0.033(CcM1381) to 0.654 (CcM2977).The average PIC value of the markers was 0.205. Based on the dendrogram constructed using the dissimilarity values, 60 accessions were grouped into three main clusters. Most of the accessions were found to be present in main cluster II. Cluster III depicts that one one accession Pusa 992 forms solitary cluster. Based on dendrogram and neighbor joining Pusa 992 forms separate cluster in both these types. There is no significant molecular diversity among the cultivated genotypes. Such a narrow genetic base is likely to represent a serious impediment to breeding programs in pigeonpea. This study suggested the need for broadening the genetic base of cultivated genotypes to improve the productivity of the crop.

Keywords

• redgram germplasm
• microsatellite markers
• polymorphism