Genetic diversity analysis of indigenous maize cultivars using RAPD markers

PCR-based random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were employed to assess genetic diversity in ten maize cultivars, viz. 4 hybrids and 6 composites. Fourteen out of the fifteen random primers screened revealed polymorphism among the genotypes. Most of the primers revealed single polymorphic band and 92.92% of the products were polymorphic. Seventy four scorable fragments were obtained with an average of 5.3 bands per primer and the average number of polymorphic bands found to be 5.1. Based on polymorphism 5 RAPD primers OPD-05, OPC-08, OPP-16, OPE-03 and OPF-17 were found to be highly discriminative. Genetic similarity based on jaccard's similarity coefficient ranged from 0.214 - 0.725, indicating narrow genetic variability among the genotypes based on RAPD markers. The ten cultivars of maize formed two major clusters in the dendrogram. The studies comprising ten maize cultivars showed that association between dendrogram obtained by RAPD marker and kernel colour.