Arun Kumar M. B.AKASH A2020-02-282020-02-282019http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810143866T-10203Purity of produced pearl millet hybrid seeds depends on the purity of parental lines’ seeds used. Occurrence of B line seed admixture in A line seed lots is the major reason for the impurity of pearl millet hybrids. Conventionally the pollen shedders are identified based on the visual observations of anthers phenotypes in plants of A line rows during the seed production. If the seed production field doesn’t comply with the minimum of allowable limits of pollen shedders in A line, then the entire seed production plot is rejected causing the huge loss to hybrid seed producers some times. Hence, any alternative method to ensure the purity of the A line against the B line admixture before pushing the A line seed lot for further multiplication or hybrid seed production could help in minimizing the losses due to A line impurity as well as facilitate in production of pure quality seeds and employing the molecular markers for the purposed could be one such alternative. In the present study efforts were made to identify the suitable RAPD marker to ensure the purity of A line against B line admixture. Among the 160 RAPD markers screened, three markers OPP10, OPS1 and OPN12 were found to be useful. OPP10 RAPD marker was found to be useful in differentiating the A lines from its respective B lines of A1 cytoplasm by amplifying the female specific 1 Kbp DNA fragment. It was confirmed that the amplified 1 Kbp fragment was of cytoplasmic origin and could be used ensure the purity of A lines against B lines admixture irrespective of the nuclear background in A1 CMS source. The identified OPS1 and OPN12 RAPD markers for A4 cytoplasm were found to be genotype specific and could only be used to ensure the purity of 99111A line against the 99111B line admixtures.en-USnullThesis