Assessment of genetic diversity of certain Indian elite clones of Cymbopogon species through RAPD analysis

Abstract

*Ten elite Indian cultivars of Cymbopogon, aromatic grasses of essential oil trade types—citronella, palmarosa and lemongrass, were characterized isolated from fresh leaf tissues were amplified with twelve 10-mer arbitrary primers. The amplification produced overall 64 scorable bands in the cultivars studied. Of which 52 were polymorphic and 12 were monomorphic. RAPD markers proved to be the efficient marker system with regard to detection of polymorphism, number of loci scored and PIC values. Polymorphism differed substantially within the discrete groups of cultivars and was approximately 71.88% in palmarosa, 6.25% in citronella and 46.88% in lemongrasses. Genetic variations detected among the elite cultivars could be of much use for the introgression of new characters from wild counterparts to the cultivars, isolation of stable segregating markers, selection of improved varieties and conservation of germplasm resources.