Agro-morphological and Molecular Diversity in Castor (Ricinus communis L.) Germplasm Collected from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India.

Abstract

Castor (Ricinus communis L.) is an industrial oilseed crop grown worldwide. Its oil with more than 80% ricinoleic acid makes it a chief raw material for numerous industrial applications and biofuel production. Castor grows in a wild form across India including Andaman & Nicobar Islands, which are geographically quite isolated from mainland India. Thirty-three accessions growing in isolation in these Islands were used in the present study. Genetic diversity among these accessions was assessed using 18 agro-morphological traits and 29 EST-SSR markers. Highagro-morphological and molecular variability was observed among these accessions. Both agro-morphologicaltraits and EST-SSR markers effectively discriminated the accessions. However, ESTSSRs separated the accessions into more groups than did agro-morphological data, implying high efficiency and resolution of EST-SSR markers in genetic analysis of castor germplasm from Andaman &Nicobar. The diverse accessions identified in the present investigation would serve as genetically diverse sources in castor breeding programmes.