Genetic Divergence Analysis of Withania Somnifera (L.) Dunal Genotypes as Revealed by Rapd Marker

Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal is an important medicinal plant and its pharmacological activities are attributed to its active principles known as withanolides. The objective of the present study was to investigate intraspecific variability observed between the intraspecific variants of Ashwagandha which include 35 selection lines and one released variety WS-20. This information was employed to estimate similarity matrix value based on Jaccard's similarity coefficients which was used to construct phenetic dendrogram. The dendrogram easily separated these genotypes into two major clusters ‘A ’and ‘B ’. The range of similarity extends from 0.220 between PWS-22 and PWS-8 to 0.930 between PW-2 and PWS-3. The PWS-4, PWS-17 and PWS-23 were three divergent lines obtained in major cluster ‘B ’. The cluster ‘B ’was subdivided into six minor subgroups Bl to B6. The released variety WS-20 was the part of ‘B ’which showed 62% similarity to PWS-35. This information reveals the efficiency of RAPD markers for rapid detection of genetic variations at intraspecific level and efficient management of plant genetic resource.