Biodiversity and Applied Botany Division, Regional Research Laboratory (CSIR), Canal Road, Jammu Tawi - 180001
*Corresponding author, E-mail: rpunitk@rediffmail.com, Present address: School of Biotechnology, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Udhampur 182121.
Characterization of five promising morphotypes, viz. AGB (Ashwagandha germplasm bank) −002, AGB-009, AGB-015, AGB-025 and AGB-030 of Withania somnifera have been made on the basis of seed protein profiles. SDS-PAGE of different morphotypes, revealed variation in number, width and intensity of bands. The molecular weight of protein bands by SDS-PAGE obtained varied between 29.0 to 97.5 kD (Kilo-dalton) in seeds of all morphotypes. There was morphotype specificity in electrophoretic pattern of seed protein. The observations revealed that seed protein polymorphism provides a useful information regarding variability among morphotypes under investigation. This offers a useful and rapidly performed adjunct to traditional morphological methods of identification in Withania somnifera.
Ashwagandha, electrophoresis, Indian ginseng, protein polymorphism
