Studies on Inter and intra-population variability of Pongamia pinnata: a bioenergy legume tree

Abstract

Pongamia pinnata is an oil producing tree species with multiple uses and considerable potential as a bioenergycrop. The present investigation has been carried out to assess the extent of genetic structure in a representative set of 111individuals of P. pinnata encompassing seven populations as a prelude for utilization of promising and genetically divergentmaterial in the breeding program. Molecular polymorphism was 67.18% with 10 Inter Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR)between the individuals indicating modest levels of genetic variation in the P. pinnata germplasm collected. The withinpopulation variation based on ISSR polymorphism was 32.34% and polymorphism at the species level was 94.34%. Geneticdifferentiation between populations (GST= 0.61) was positively correlated with geographical distance. The data obtainedindicated an immediate need for widening the genetic base of P. pinnata germplasm for proper characterization and extensiveplantations of elite varieties to meet the biodiesel demands.