Assessing Relationship between Indian and Exotic Cultivars of Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) by Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA

Sweet potato ( Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) is a crop of economic and social importance with nutritive values, high energy yield, wide adaptability and high level of genetic diversity. It is an important source of dietary fibre, minerals, vitamins and bioactive compounds such as  β -carotene, phenolic acid and anthocyanin. Sweet potato clones possess diversity in skin and flesh colors (white, cream, yellow, orange and purple) of tubers. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis using 21 Indian and exotic cultivars of sweet potato comprising of diversified skin and flesh colour including orange fleshed sweet potatoes with arbitrary 15 decamer primers showed 164 polymorphic bands which fell into three major clusters  viz ., clusters A, B and C. Clusters A and B included both Indian and exotic orange-fleshed sweet potato cultivars, whereas cluster C included mostly white-fleshed cultivars of Indian origin. The predictive linkages will lead to a valuable breeding programme for the genetic improvement of sweet potato and verification of pedigree records.