Evaluation of genetic diversity of Moringa germplasm accessions using SSR markers

Abstract

Moringa (Moringa oleifera L.), popularly known as drumstick, is known for its wide variety of nutraceutical values. The objective of this study was to record the genetic diversity of twenty genotypes of Moringa oleifera found in Telangana state in India using morphological and molecular markers. Out of 20 SSRs used in this study, 13 provided reproducible amplification, and were used to assess genetic diversity in 20 genotypes of moringa. On an average, number of alleles for 13 SSR markers ranged from 2 to 6. A total of 43 alleles were detected in all the investigated samples with a mean number of 3.30 alleles/marker. The SSR-MO 1 recorded the highest PIC value and the lowest PIC value was recorded for SSR-MO 55. The mean PIC value was 0.25. Among the 13 primers used for SSR analysis, SSR MO 58 registered the highest number of alleles. The characterization resulted in the identification of moringa genotypes viz., MO 5 and MO 14 had high diversity as well as higher value for per se performances. So these accessions can be selected as parents for the further breeding programme.