RAPD analysis in mungbean ( Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek): I. Assessment of genetic diversity

Genetic diversity was estimated among 39 genotypes of mungbean [ Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] using 30 RAPD primers. A total of 411 RAPD amplicons were obtained, of which 382 (92.9%) were polymorphic. The per cent polymorphism ranged from 42.85 to 100 per cent. A wide range (40.8 to 90.3%) of Jaccards similarity coefficient was observed between the pairs of genotypes; the highest being observed between MH-98-1 and Vs ML-839, and the lowest between UPM-98 and Vs ML-131. The genotypes with a common ancestry and/or used repeatedly in mungbean improvement programme exhibited higher genotypic similarity. The extent of diversity among cultivars was also studied in relation to their source, and set of genotypes with narrow genetic base developed from particular place were identified. The genotypes formed 11 clusters, three main groups and eight minor groups, based on unweighted pair group methods for arithmetic mean (UPGMA). The cultivar ML-131 occupied a unique position and was most diverse from rest of the genotypes. Principal coordinate analysis and normalized Mantel statistics (r=0.92) supported cluster analysis. A concordance was observed between the position of genotypes in the cluster and their pedigree information.