Abstract
Twelve populations of Jatropha curcas from the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Orissa were evaluated for genetic diversity using the RAPD markers. Twenty random decamer primers were used to assess genetic variation. A total of 118 amplified products were generated out of which 66 amplicons were polymorphic. The similarity index values ranged from 0.276 to 0.726 indicating the presence of high genetic diversity at molecular level among the 12 populations. The UPGMA dendrogram revealed the clustering of 12 populations of Jatropha curcas in 2 cluster. First cluster consisted of six populations i.e. TJC- 34, TJC- 35, TJC- 36, TJC- 38, TJC- 39 and TJC- 40. The second cluster consisted of six populations i.e. TJC- 4, TJC- 5, TJC- 6, TJC- 7, TJC- 52 and TJC- 23. The populations of Jatropha curcas showed high genetic diversity as evident by the wide range of the similarity coefficients.
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