Assessment of genetic diversity in Cucumis melo through RAPD analysis

Genetic diversity analysis of sixteen accessions of two Cucumis melo groups var. callosus (kachari) and momordica (kakari) collected from four districts viz., Ajmer, Bikaner, Churu and Nagaur of Rajasthan was carried out using RAPD primers. A total of 102 amplified fragments were generated, out of which 99 were polymorphic. Primers OPG17 could distinguish all the accessions recording the highest discriminatory power (1.00) followed by OPB 6 (0.991). The Jaccard's similarity coefficient recorded an average similarity of 0.40 indicating 60% diversity, ranging from 18 to 67% among all the 16 accessions. The SAHN clustering based on UPGMA algorithms divided the accessions into three groups, the I consisting nine (eight of kakari and one kachari (Nagaur 1k) accessions, the II included five (all kachari one Nagaur 2k and four from Ajmer and Bikaner) and the III had two kachari accessions of Churu. Kachari recorded 20% more genetic diversity as compared to kakari. Churu Kachari recorded maximum diversity (61 to 82%). The study indicated that the landraces possess wide genetic diversity, which can be used for improvement.