Assessment of Genetic Diversity in Ajwain (Trachyspermum ammi L.) Genotypes using Morphological and Molecular Markers

Twenty-eight genotypes of ajwain (Trachyspermum ammi L.) consisting 25 genotypes and 3 checks were evaluated for genetic diversity using morphological and molecular markers (i.e RAPD markers). Out of 18 decamer RAPD primers, 10 primers were found polymorphic showed an average 5.16 numbers of polymorphic bands per primer. The similarity coefficient for different genotypes was in the range of 0.07 (GP-113 and GP-7) to 0.58 (Gujarat ajwain-1). The average similarity (0.32) across all the genotypes indicating a low level of genetic similarity among the genotypes and a high polymorphism (100%) and variability (78%) by RAPD and morphological analysis, respectively for all the genotypes under study. Though the genotypes viz., GP-7, GP-113, Gujarat ajwain-1 and Pratap ajwain-1 showed moderate divergence in D² analysis, but found highly divergent in RAPD analysis and also had high per se performance for seed yield and its contributing characters, hence could be selected for the further breeding programme in ajwain.