Genetic Variability and Molecular Diversity Analysis in Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.)

Background: Turmeric is an age old herbaceous plant belonging to the family Zingiberaceae growing in Tropical Africa and India with huge national and international demands. Conventionally, turmeric accessions are characterized using morphological and agronomical traits but less work is done in molecular characterization which is needed for thorough trait identification. Methods: The investigation was carried out during Kharif 2016-17 and comprised of thirty diverse genotypes of turmeric analyzed for genetic variability and molecular diversity which were evaluated in randomized block design with two replications. Fresh tender leaves were used to isolate DNA and PCR was performed with 9 SSR markers. Result: The values of phenotypic coefficient of variation were slightly higher than genotypic coefficient of variation. Highest heritability was observed for days to maturity, genetic advance was observed highest for green rhizome yield. Out of 9 SSR markers, primer pair 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 were reported to exhibit 100% polymorphism, whereas; in terms of PIC, primer pairs 6 and 9 were found to be highly efficient ones. The similarity coefficient ranged from 0.44 to 1.00 and dendogram categorized the 30 genotypes into two main clusters.