Bhandarkar, SandeepSarawagi, A.K.Sonboir, H.L.Sharma, DeepakSaxena, Ravi R.Kumar, Roshan2016-12-142016-12-142016171 p.http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/90149Characterization of indigenous accessions of rice for 48 qualitative and quantitative characters, dissecting quality and yield related inter-componental traits to obtain precise information. Qualitative characters are considered as morphological markers in the identification of germplasm accessions of rice because they are less influenced by environment. Characterization of germplasm accessions establishes distinctiveness on the basis of 18 morphological markers. It is not only important for utilizing the appropriate attribute based donors in breeding programmes, but also essential in the present era for protecting the unique rice. Analysis of variance indicated that the mean sum of squares due to treatments (genotypes) were highly significant (at 1%) for all the quantitative characters. It means that there was significant differences present among the genotypes for all the quantitative traits. The highest PCV and GCV was observed for sterile spikelets per panicle followed by grain yield per plant, spikelets sterility%, fertile spikelets per panicle, total spikelets per panicle, biological yield per plant and amylose content. The result of correlation and path analysis revealed that the traits such as days to 50% flowering, total tillers per plant, effective tillers per plant, total spikelets per panicle, fertile spikelets per panicle, biological yield per plant, harvest index and head rice recovery had highly significant positive correlation with grain yield per plant as well as positive direct effect on grain yield per plant. Positive direct effect on grain yield as well as significant positive correlation with grain yield per plant indicates true relationship between them and direct selection for these traits will be rewarding for yield improvement. On the basis of Divergence analysis 65 genotypes were grouped into five clusters. The highest numbers of genotypes were present in cluster III which have 39 genotypes. Maximum intra-cluster distance was observed in cluster II and maximum inter-cluster distance was observed between cluster II and cluster IV which shows the presence of high variability and high heterotic effect in between them. Maximum percent contribution of characters toward genetic divergence were given by sterile spikelets per panicle (6.98%) followed by grain yield per plant, fertile spikelet per panicle, total spikelet per panicle, harvest index, biological yield per plant, head rice recovery, amylose content, effective tillers per plant etc. Considering the importance of genetic distance and relative contribution of characters towards total divergence, parental lines should be selected from cluster II and from cluster IV to achieve desired segregants. Molecular markers are useful tools for evaluating genetic diversity and determining cultivar identity. A total of nine SSR markers (primers) were used for molecular characterization of 24 rice genotypes. Out of nine SSR markers, only seven were polymorphic while two were monomorphic. A total of 24 alleles were detected by nine SSR markers across the 24 rice genotypes. The number of alleles per SSR locus ranged from 1 to 4 with an average of 2.67 and the genetic similarity coefficient ranged from 0.35-1.00 with average 0.64. A dendrogram was constructed using Jaccard’s similarity coefficient, and accessions were clustered into 3 groups with 59% variability. Thus the present work identified the existence of ample variability among the rice genotypes that could be utilized directly for crop improvement programs.enThesis