Pattern of genetic relationship as revealed by AFLP markers in Indian sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]

Genetic relationships were assessed in 24 Indian sorghum accessions including released varieties, hybrids and their parental lines using fluorescent based Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) technique. Nine AFLP primer combinations resulted in a total of 1246 amplification products. The number of polymorphic markers per primer combination ranged from 87 (E-ACT/M-CTG) to 167 (E-ACT/M-CTA). The markers were scored for the presence or absence in binary matrix and relationships among the accessions assessed using Jaccard's similarity coefficient. Mean genetic similarity was estimated at 0.538 based on this set of AFLPs. The most distant two accessions were 104 A and SPV 462 and the closest two were CSH 16 and 27 A at Jaccard's similarity coefficient values of 0.261 and 0.731 respectively. The relationships, among released varieties, hybrids and their parental lines were In accordance with their known pedigree information. Except 104 A, C43 and SPV 462, all the accessions were more or less uniformly distributed because of interrelated pedigree and common ancestors.