Evaluation of Genetic Diversity in Grain Amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus) at Molecular Level using ISSR Markers

In the present investigation, twenty eight genotypes of grain amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus) were evaluated for their genetic divergence at molecular level. The analysis of morphological variance exhibited significant differences among the genotypes for all the eight characters indicating the presence of substantial degree of variability. Fifteen Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) primers amplified a total of 61 bands of which 53 bands (86.88%) were polymorphic. None of the band was unique and 8 bands were monomorphic in their profile. Similarity index ranged from (0.55–0.97) with moderately wide diversity. In dendrogram all the genotypes studied were distinguished from each other and five broad clusters were observed with Suvarna and SKGPA26 forming most distinct individual genotype clusters. Though there was considerable inter-group variation, however extent of variation within the groups was low. Divergence results observed in dendrogram analysis were reflected in 2D PCO scatter plot analysis. When morphological data was correlated with molecular divergence data, grouping to limited extent was observed with yield per plant, stem girth and inflorescence for traits. Intercluster crossing could be used for further widening of genetic variability in grain amaranth breeding programme.