Rapd marker assay based genetic diversity in aonla (emblica officinalis l.)

Aonla (Emblica officinalis L.) belongs to the family Euphorbiaceae. The chromosome number of Aonla is 2n=28. Aonla is indigenous to tropical south eastern Asia particularly in central and southern India. The fruit is highly nutritive and it is a rich source of vitamin C. It is valued as antiscorbutic, diuretic, laxative and antibiotic. The investigation was comprised of estimation of genetic diversity of Aonla by using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA marker. The light green colored leaves harvested from 20 different germplasm were used for DNA extraction by CTAB method. Isolated genomic DNA subjected to PCR amplification using 40 RAPD decamer primers. The data from molecular profiling using RAPD primers were analyzed mainly by scoring for the presence or absence of polymorphic bands through visual interpretation and this binary data was used for statistical analysis. The data was used to generate genetic similarity coefficient similarity matrix on the basis of Jaccard’s coefficient. The Dendrogram (cluster diagram) generated by unweighted pair group method with arithmetic average (UPGMA) algorithm using Sequential Agglomerative Hierarchial and Nested (SAHN). Dendrogram revealed that the genotypes could be grouped into four clusters. The dendrogram showed two (A and B) major clusters at 57% similarity while C and D depicted 59% and 60% of homology respectively within the cluster. The cluster information thus enables us in selecting the parent for breeding programme.