Evaluation of variability in five linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) genotypes using agro‐morphological characters and RAPD analysis

Abstract

Analysis of the extent and distribution of genetic diversity in crop plants is essential for optimizing sampling and breeding strategies. Morphological characters and Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) was used to estimate genetic variability among 5 genotypes of linseed (Linum usitatissimum L). Selected four RAPD primers generated 140 bands, 80 of which were found to be polymorphic. All the primers produced polymorphic amplification products, however the extent of polymorphism varied with each primer .The percentage of polymorphism generated by primer was OPGâ€Â03 (85.029%), OPHâ€Â12(45.94%), OPCâ€Â02(45.94%) and OPGâ€Â18(64.28%). Great variation among morphological characters viz., root length, stem diameter, number of leaves, germination percentage and radicle length was observed. UPGMA (Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean) dendrogram obtained from cluster analysis using Jaccard’s similarity coefficient resulted into three clusters. Cluster1 comprised of two genotypes (Jawhar and saharda), cluster II also comprised of two genotypes (Tâ€Â397 and KLâ€Â1) and cluster III consisted of only one genotype Garima, which was interesting to observe that the Garima was distinct from all other four experimental varieties and sole constituent of cluster III. All the genotypes could be discriminated from one another using combined profiles of 4 primers.