Evaluation of ISSR and RAPD Markers for the Detection of Genetic Diversity in Mulberry (Morus spp.)

The present study was carried out to evaluate the ISSR and RAPD markers for their efficiency as genetic marker systems to establish the relationships between 18 mulberry genotypes. A total of 36 from 56 (64%) RAPD primers and 12 from 48 (25%) ISSR primers produced reproducible amplification patterns. A high proportion of polymorphic bands ranging from 44 to 91% was observed respectively with RAPD and ISSR markers. The average Resolving Power (Rp) of ISSR primers was higher than RAPD primers. The ISSR primers, UBC 825, 868 and 873, and RAPD primers, UBC 712, 720 and 729, possessed the highest Rp values and could in each instance distinguish all the 18 genotypes. Similarity matrix values were estimated based on Jaccards coefficient, considering 109 polymorphic ISSR and 212 polymorphic RAPD bands and two dendrograms were constructed. The dendrograms obtained with ISSR and RAPD markers distinguished the eight exotic genotypes from the ten indigenous (Indian) genotypes. A significant correlation value (r=0.959; p=0.001) for the cophenetic matrix between the RAPD and ISSR matrices was observed. The results indicated that the ISSR and RAPD markers could assist in the differentiation of genotypes and permit the determination of genetic distances that might be exploited by mulberry breeders in improvement programs.