Identification of genetic diversity in pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L) Mill sp.] varieties through molecular markers

Abstract

The legume crop Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.) which has drought tolerance belongs to Fabaceae family under the genus Cajanus. It is mainly cultivated in the semi-arid tropics of Asia, Africa and America. In India, it is widely cultivated as a source of food for proteins, income and for soil improvement in intercropping systems. Natural out crossing leads to significant quality reduction and in turn lead to varietal contamination in redgram. To assess the diversity among nine pigeonpea varieties that are cultivated in Andhra Pradesh, the present investigation was carried out with a genetic fingerprint using 50 polymorphic SSR markers. With an average of 3.68 alleles per marker, a total of 184 alleles were observed. The maximum alleles eight were produced by CcM0481A range of 0.00 to 0.84 with an average of 0.52 was observed with Polymorphic Information Content (PIC). Three clusters were produced in neighbour-joining tree method. The variety LRG-223 was found in separate cluster (cluster I) among the nine varieties, while all other genotypes grouped into another major cluster (cluster II) indicating a distinct back ground of this variety.