HIMA BINDU, KKHADKE GANESH, NAVANATH2016-12-192016-12-1912-08-11Th-10026http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/91041Betelvine is one of the heritage crops of India. In spite of being an important cash crop very limited research has been carried out in this crop. Molecular marker assisted investigations were undertaken to study the genetic diversity of betelvine accessions and Piper species and to identify of sex linked markers in P. betel. Genetic diversity analysis was carried out by using Inter Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR) markers in 38 accessions of betelvine and one accession each of P. colubrinum and P. hamiltoni. Out of 60 ISSR primers tested, 15 were selected based on high and consistent polymorphism. The 15 ISSR primers generated a total 82 bands of which 72 were polymorphic. The different band statistics and efficiency parameters showed that the primers viz; UBC-822, 825, 826, 863 and ISSR-1, ISSR-15 were more efficient and UBC-828 the least efficient primer to study the genetic diversity. Studies UPGMA dendrogram and PCA plot revealed P. colubrinum to be the most distant of the three species. The Andaman accessions of betelvine clustered based on geographical origin and shared 70% similarity. Gender based clustering was also observed in the betelvine accessions. The study revealed that of ISSR primers were efficient in divulging the differences between Piper species and within P. betle. ISSR markers were used to identify sex linked markers in dioecious betelvine. Female and male bulk DNAs were screened with 35 ISSR primers. Two primers viz; ISSR-10 and UBC-852 produced male specific bands of size 459bp and 1250bp respectively. ISSR-23 amplified a female specific 636bp fragment. These primers were validated in the individuals of the bulks and showed a consistent sex specific expression. A sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) was developed from the primer ISSR-23. The SCAR primers developed can further be utilized in sex identification in betelvine.engenetics, dna, rapd, polymorphism, planting, germplasm, pcr, genetic markers, crops, cloningThesis