Diversity analysis of arrowroot germplasm using ISSR markers

Abstract

Arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea L.) is an underutilized tuber crop having great potential to be developed as a carbohydrate source and functional food. Molecular markers have proved to be valuable tools in the characterization and evaluation of genetic diversity within and between species and populations. ISSR markers provide more sophisticated analysis of genetic diversity, cultivar identification, population genetic structure and other events of evolutionary biology processes. The present work is aimed at the molecular characterization of the seven arrowroot (Maranta arundinacae L.) accessions maintained at ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute field genebank using 12 ISSR primers and to estimate the extent of diversity using the similarity index. DNA isolation was done using DNeasy® Plant Mini Kit method. Out of the 13 ISSR markers screened, 12 markers gave polymorphic bands in the accessions screened. The 12 ISSR markers produced a total of 124 bands across the seven samples of which 66 were polymorphic. The phylogenetic tree generated using UPGMA cluster analysis revealed that diversity exists in M. arundinacea unlike previously reported. The accessions formed two major clusters with two outliers in the grouping. The Cluster 1 consisted of two accessions i.e. Acc. 1 (M1) and Acc. 6 (M6) while Cluster 2 consisted of 3 accessions viz. Acc. 2, 4 and 3 (M2, M4 and M3). The two outliers that got separated were accessions 5 and 7 (M5 and M7). No duplicates were identified in the present study. The results indicated that the primers selected for the present study will be useful for future genetic diversity studies and would provide breeders with a genetic base for selection of diverse parents for crop improvement programmes in arrowroot.