Evaluation of Genetic Diversity in Ocimum spp. using Agro-morphological Traits and RAPD Marker

In the present study, morphological and genetic diversity is revealed among the four species of Ocimum. Among the morphological characters plant height, the number of leaves, leaf area, leaf width, leaf length, stem circumference and mitotic index studied and contributed a greater proportion of variations. RAPD markers revealed a high degree of polymorphism (88.89%) among the species of Ocimum. Dendrogram study revealed that the species O. gratissimum and O. basilicum are very closely related whereas O. kilimandscharicum and O. sanctum are distantly related in the phylogenetic history.