Assessment of genetic diversity in safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) genotypes through morphological and SSR marker

Abstract

The genetic diversity of twenty safflower genotypes was evaluated using morphological and SSR markers. Total nine morphological traits were studied viz. plant height; number of branches per plant, test weight, harvest index, seed yield and oil content showed the significant variation.Ward’s cluster analysis based on morphological traits separated the 20 safflower genotypes into two groups. Amongst the tested SSR primes, 11 primers produced amplification with 17 polymorphic bands expressing 56 per cent average polymorphism. The similarity coefficient ranged from 0.40 to 0.90 with an average of 0.65. The dendrogram based on SSR data clearly divided the 20 safflower genotypes into six main clusters. In general, there was a notable association between genotypes (SSF-748,11-12 A1, GMU-5133, Bhima and Girha) and there morphological characters (oil content, test weight, branches/plant and days to maturity) strongly linked with SSR markers. In this context, in the present investigation demonstrated that SSR markers viz SES-129,SSR-5,SES-81,SES-85 can be further used to marker assisted selection.