First Report on Genetic Diversity of Bhut Jolokia Germplasm in North East India by SSR Markers and Morphology

North Eastern states are home to the genetic variability where several inter-specific hybrids/derivatives were originated, among which ‘Bhut Jolokia’ (Capsicum chinense Jacq.) is one of the world's hottest peppers. This study undertaken to determine the distinctiveness of Bhut Jolokia within the germplasm. About 30 Bhut Jolokia genotypes were collected from different regions of North East India, mainly from Assam, Nagaland and Manipur based on fruit morphological characters and their genetic diversity studied by using simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers. Ten simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers were used against the 30 genotypes to study the genetic diversity. Results revealed 100 per cent polymorphism in 9 out of 10 markers and polymorphic information content (PIC) ranging from 0.11(HpmsE014, HpmsE026) to 0.37 (CAeMS009) were recorded.