Molecular characterization and selection of elite maintainer and restorer lines using sales appearance score in pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.]

This study explored the genetic diversity within a collection of 94 economically important pearl millet inbreds, encompassing 45 maintainers and 49 restorer lines, using DNA-based markers. A set of 30 polymorphic SSR primer pairs were utilized, yielding 84 alleles, with alleles per locus ranging from 2 to 4 with an average of 2.8 alleles. Employing DARwin’s tree and Neighbor Joining method for cluster analysis, all cultivars were effectively categorized into two major groups (restorer and maintainer), further subdivided into subgroups. Noteworthy variations in Polymorphism Information Content (PIC) values were observed among the markers, indicating varying degrees of genetic diversity. Notably, some markers exhibited substantial diversity, whereas others were highly conserved. Genetic similarity estimates ranged from 0.05 to 0.67, averaging 0.28, underscoring ample diversity among maintainer and restorer inbreds for productive breeding efforts. Intriguingly, the study also detected contamination in three analyzed lines, adding an intriguing facet to the investigation.