Abstract

                                Studies were undertaken for detection of DNA polymorphism through Random Amplified Polymorphic (RAPD) DNA fingerprint in Plumbago zeylanica L. collected from ten locations in Western Ghats. A total of 27 DNA fragment (bands), ranging from 4 to 6 was observed. The genetic distance between the population ranged from 0.1178 to 0.8109 and the genetic identity ranged from 0.4444 to 0.8889. The overall observed and effective number of alleles is 0.3958 and 0.3599 respectively. Over all genetic diversity is 0 .1817 and percentage of polymorphic loci was 81.48. The genetic similarity analysis was conducted on the basis of presence or absence of bands which revealed a wide range of variability within the populations. The cluster analysis clearly showed that there was high degree of diversity within the population. The closest genetic distance existed within population. Thus these RAPD markers have the potential for conservation of identified clones and characterization of genetic relatedness among the population

Key words : Gene diversity, RAPD-PCR analysis, Plumbago zeylanica