Assessing genetic divergence of flax genotypes (Linum usitatissimum L.) utilizing microsatellite markers

Abstract

Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.), is an annual herb. It is the third largest natural fibre crop and one of the five major oilseed crops in the world. Fingerprinting with molecular markers allows precise, objective and rapid cultivar identification, which has been proved to be an efficient tool for crop germplasm characterization, collection and management. SSR markers /microsatellites have been widely used for genetic analysis and cultivar identification because of their abundance, codominance inheritance, high polymorphism, reproducibility, and ease of assay by PCR. Ten Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs) / microsatellite markers were amplified in 27 genotypes of Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.). The study was undertaken to assess the genetic diversity in flax at molecular level and to select most diverse genotypes for future breeding programme. Different marker efficiency parameters, namely: Polymorphic Information Content (PIC), Resolving Power (RP) and Mean Resolving Power were studied. Dendrogram based on UPGMA was constructed to find out the genetic diversity among the germplasm. Principal Co-ordinate Analysis was also performed in support of cluster based UPGMA analysis.