GENETIC DIVERSITY ANALYSIS OF MILD INSECT RESISTANT WILD & CULTIVATED CHICKPEA (Cicer arietinum L.) GENOTYPES
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Date
2020-10
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AAU, Jorhat
Abstract
Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is one of the most important pulse crop grown all over the world and India is the major producer. Despite being the largest producer, India still imports chickpea from other countries because of its low productivity. In Assam, the chickpea growers suffer as the cultivars available in the state are susceptible to various insect pests which appear to be the most important reasons for low productivity. In order to enhance the genetic potential of cultivated chickpea one has to assess the extent and the pattern of real diversity available in the existing cultivated and wild accessions (Croser and Ahmad et al. 2003). In the present study, we have characterized 18 chickpea genotypes belonging to C. arietinum, C. reticulatum & C. judaicum, based on morphological traits and molecular data of 48 SSR markers to analyze their genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationship. Morphological diversity analysis showed a significant variation for seed yield/plant, growth habit and flower colour. Considerable diversity was recorded from the SSR data analysis with a polymorphic information content ranging from 0.12 to 0.47 with a mean of 0.31. Most of the diversity was confined to the C. judaicum genotypes with respect to its average Jaccard’s similarity coefficient (0.246) and average Euclidean distance (9.098). The dendrogram generated for both morphological & SSR data reflects similarities between the cultivated and C. reticulatum genotypes while genotypes of C.judaicum were diverse and distinctly unique from the other genotypes. A better understanding of the diversity and relationships within and among the genotypes will contribute to identification and utilization in breeding program to widen the genetic base of this cultivated species, for the development of elite lines with superior yield and improved adaptation to diverse environments.