Establishing distinctiveness in local maize (Zea mays L.) varieties using RAPD marker as additional descriptor for protection under PPV & FR Act

The molecular identification profiles were established in the present work for 24 local maize varieties with 10 RAPD markers to incorporate the fingerprint, as complementary information to the standard registration data on DUS morphological descriptors. It resulted in 172 informative RAPD loci. UPGMA analysis of RAPD marker loci could discriminate all the varieties except Khusalpur Local-4 and Nunawala Local-5. These primers could establish unique molecular identification profiles (MIPs) for a total of 14 varieties. Mean polymorphic information content (PIC), average expected gene diversity, average resolving power (Rp) and diversity index (DI) of RAPD markers used were high which reflected that RAPD marker is an efficient tool to establish distinctiveness among the present set of experimental material. Principal component analysis (PCA) of RAPD data supported UPGMA clustering results. Thus, the present investigation reflects that molecular markers are new possibilities as additional descriptor to characterize the plant cultivars for registration purposes under PPV&FR Act.