Genetic diversity studies of maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes using SSR markers

Abstract

Genetic diversity in maize (Zeamays L.) plays a key role for future breeding progress. The main objective of our study is to investigate the genetic diversity among 29 CIMMYT maize lines by simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. In this study, we have characterized 29 maize genotypes at molecular level using 13 primer pairs. The individual genotype has been distinct by constructed dendrogram based upon the dis/similarity coefficient. Among the 13 SSR markers used, one marker has observed to be monomorphic, whereas the rest of the markers revealed polymorphic information content values ranging from 0.067 to 0.499 provided sufficient discrimination to assess the genetic diversity among the genotypes. Hence, we revealed that SSR markers showed to be a powerful tool for detection of genetic diversity in maize genotypes; they can be useful maize for conserving and managing maize germplasm at molecular level.