GENETIC DIVERSITY IN THE LOCALLY COLLECTED BRASSICA SPECIES OF PAKISTAN BASED ON MICROSATELLITE MARKERS

Genetic diversity among 120 different accessions of Brassica species were characterized with the help of SSR markers. These species include Brassica rapa, B. juncea and B. napus. 39 SSR primers were used and they produced 162 scorable bands in which 105 were polymorphic. The average rate of polymorphic loci was 46%, which indicates high genetic diversity among the accessions. The UPGMA cluster analysis revealed two main clusters and nine sub-clusters. From the gene pool of the collected Brassicas considerable variation was observed among the B. rapa accessions, which clearly differentiate the B. rapa of northern part of the country from the B. rapa of rest of the country. Groupings also reflected geographical similarities and suggested misidentification of certain accessions in the germplasm collection. Based on our study, SSR analysis proved to be a useful tool in assessing the genetic diversity of leafy Brassica germplasm.