Assessment of genetic diversity analysis in contrasting sugarcane varieties using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers

Sugarcane is an important crop in the country economically, politically and sociologically. It is the second largest agro-industry next to textiles. The selection and combination of parents for crossing rely on an understanding of their genetic structures and molecular diversity. In the present study, 28 sugarcane genotypes were used for genomic diversity analyses based on 30 randomly amplified polymorphic DNA markers (RAPD). These 30 sets of RAPD marker generated a total of 277 discernible and reproducible bands which included 179 polymorphic and 98 monomorphic bands. The unweighted pair group method with arithmetic average (UPGMA) analysis revealed six distinct clusters: I, II, III, IV, V and VI within the 28 genotypes. The polymorphic information content value per locus ranged from 0.21 for the OPA12 locus to 0.53 for OPH05, with an average of 0.40 for all loci. The range of genetic distance or coefficient of similarity among sugarcane genotypes were 0.08-1.00. The analysis of these similarities matrix revealed that greater similarity between Co 05011 and Co 0237, Co 05011 and Co 0241 (1.00), and lowest similarity between CoSe 03234 and CoS8432 (0.08). The knowledge obtained in this study will be useful to future breeding programs for increasing genetic diversity of sugarcane varieties and cultivars to meet the demand of sugarcane cultivation for sugar and bioenergy use. Key words: Sugarcane, random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) marker, genetic diversity, unweighted pair group method with arithmetic average (UPGMA).