Tewari, Salil K.Mohammed Talha2018-10-102018-10-102017-11http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810080864The present investigation entitled “Studies on Genetic Diversity Based on Morphology, SSR Markers and Reproductive Biological Parameters in Bamboo Species” was carried out during 2014-17 at G.B.P.U.A & T, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. The research materials consisted of 10 species of bamboo for quantitative and qualitative parameter studies and 20 species for molecular diversity analysis based on rice SSR markers. The experiment was laid out in RBD with four replications. The data recorded on 21 quantitative characters were statistically analyzed through appropriate statistical procedures for means and variances, heritability, genetic advance and inter-character association. Genetic divergence was estimated using quantitative, qualitative parameters and rice SSR markers. Reproductive biology of Dendrocalamus giganteus, Bambusa bambos and Bambusa balcooa was studied. Seed characteristics, germination and seedling characteristics of Dendrocalamus giganteus were also investigated. Wide range of variation was observed for characters like bud length, culm diameter, leaf area, culm to culm distance, clump circumference, number of clums per clump and number of young shoots per clump. The culm sheath parameters varied immensely among the species and hence constitute important diagnostic feature for taxonomic characterization. High values of economic traits shows the commercial utility of these species for special requirement like thick culms (D. giganteus), total number of clums (D. hamiltonii) and total culm length (B. nutans). Other species like B. bamboos can be used for fodder purpose as it showed highest number of leaves per node and B. tulda produced maximum number of young shoots per year. High estimates of heritability with high genetic advance were recorded for culm to culm distance, culm diameter, culm height and leaf area which indicated that these characters are controlled by additive gene action and suggest the importance of employing direct selection for the improvement of such characters. The genotypic and phenotypic correlations were in same direction. The genotypic correlations were higher than phenotypic correlations for most of the character combinations which ensures the effectiveness of selection for these characters in order to maximize yield. D2-analysis showed maximum divergence between the species of cluster II and cluster III indicating these to be genetically different. Character inter-nodal length contributed maximum towards divergence. Hierarchical clustering of ten accessions on the basis of quantitative parameters, 30 qualitative characters and SSR markers revealed genetic dissimilarity between bamboo species. Resolving power of qualitative characters was better in species discrimination than quantitative characters. On the other hand, SSR based dendrogram was more accurate than the above two approaches in species delineation with exception in only one cluster. This study reveals superiority of molecular based phylogenetic studies in bamboos over traditional methods centred on morphological traits. Present investigation shows that rice SSR markers are transferable to bamboo species which can be used to distinguish different genotypes including albino seedlings, flowering and non-flowering clumps within species. Isolated flowering of two D. giganteus clumps was preceded by death of culms though reversion to vegetative state was also reported. B. bambos flowered gregariously followed by heavy seed set and dried completely. Partial flowering with no seed set was reported in B. balcooa. In all the three species flowering occurred only in some of the populations indicating that there are different flowering cohorts for the same species. Observations on floral morphology of all three species showed differences in the reproductive structures. Seeds of D. giganteus showed variation for various seed characters. Low germination percentage and drastic reduction in seed viability on short term storage demands further research in defining optimum storage conditions for seeds to promote its use as propagating material and fresh regeneration of bamboo plantations. Albino seedlings were frequently detected in D. giganteus which can be used in further genetic analysis on albinism and can be useful as marker in population genetic studies.ennullThesis