PATIL, B.S.Desai, Priya B.2021-07-132021-07-132016-07https://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810170444Chickpea is the second most important pulse crop in the world. The low and unstable productivity of the crop is attributed to the narrow genetic base making it vulnerable to biotic stresses. Dry root rot of chickpea is emerging as a serious threat to chickpea production and gaining importance in the changing climatic scenario. The objective of the present study was to assess genetic variability for yield and yield related traits, screening genotypes for dry root rot and identification of putative molecular markers for dry root rot resistance. The genetic variability study was conducted for two seasons. In both the seasons high variability was observed for biomass per plant, number of pods per plant and number of seeds per plant with medium to high heritability and also has significant positive correlation with yield. These traits could be used as selection indices for yield improvement. Fifty five chickpea genotypes were screened for resistance to dry root rot in sick-pots in three replications. Number of days taken to wilting was recorded. Significant difference was observed among the genotypes for number of days taken to wilting, which may be attributed to polygenic nature of the trait. The genotypes; K 850, KAK 2, H 208, BG 14-4, BG 12-119 and ICC 14395 were identified as resistant to dry root rot in present study. Based on previous studies, genotypes with differential response to dry root rot were subjected for molecular analysis employing 32 SSR and 13 RAPD markers. Lowest genetic similarity was observed between dry root rot resistant (ICC 14395) and susceptible (A1) genotypes. Two SSR (GSSR106 and TR19) and two RAPD (A05 and A18) markers showed distinct polymorphism between dry root rot resistant and five susceptible genotypes. These markers could be employed to investigate possible linkage with dry root rot resistance.EnglishThesis