Assessment of Genetic Relatedness among Three Varieties of Finger Millet with Variable Seed Coat Color Using RAPD and ISSR Markers

Abstract

The genetic relatedness of three varieties of finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.) with varying seed coat color namely PRM-1(Brown), PRM-701(White) and PRM-801 (Golden) were assessed with 10 RAPD and 10 ISSR markers. Molecular parameters viz., total number of bands, average polymorphic bands, average percent polymorphism, average polymorphic information content (PIC) and average expected gene diversity (Hi) generated from RAPD and ISSR markers has been compared. The RAPD profiling of these varieties with 10 random primers generated 86 loci with 49 polymorphic and 37 monomorphic loci. The molecular characterization of these varieties using 10 ISSR markers generated 57 loci with 18 polymorphic and 39 monomorphic loci. The RAPD marker with 8.5 loci per primer was found to be better than ISSR marker showing an average of 5.7 loci per primer in the present study. The RAPD and ISSR molecular marker based analysis reveled maximum similarity among PRM-701 and PRM-801 which has been further confirmed by morphological, physiological and enzymatic (nitrate reductase and glutamine synthetase) characterization.