Identification and Utilization of Polymorphic SSR Markers for Genetic Diversity Studies in Oil Palm

Abstract

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) having chromosome number 2n=32 and belongs to the family Arecaceae and it is a rich source of perennial vegetable-oil in India. To sustain the edible oil requirement in the country, oil palm is one of the best options due to its high oilyield (4-6 t/ha) potential compared to other annual oil-yielding crops. Polymorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers play an important role in genetic diversity and mapping studies in a crop like oil palm. In the present study, total eight genotypes were screened using 110 SSR markers. With of these, 42 were found to be polymorphic and 68 were monomorphic and the number of alleles ranged from two to six. The highest Polymorphism Information Content (PIC) value was observed with the primer, mEgCIR0779 (0.76), while the lowest with mEgCIR3288 (0.11), at an average value of 0.38. Genetic diversity ranged from 0.12 (mEgCIR3288) to 0.79 (mEgCIR0779), with an average value of 0.45. Based on PIC and other genetic parameters, four highlypolymorphic markers, viz., mEgCIR0779, mEgCIR0782, mEgCIR2347 and mEgCIR2595 were identified. The identified polymorphic SSR loci can be effectively used in mapping and genetic diversity studies of oil palm crop improvement programme. Totally 42 polymorphic SSRs identified and grouped the eight genotypes into two major clusters and the clustering pattern observed was that based on geographical origin.