RAPD Analysis of Genetic Diversity in Indian Land Races of Rice (Oryza sativa L)

The study aims at determining genetic diversity in a set of land races in comparison to a representative sample of improved rice Varieties, using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Analysis of 36 accessions using 10 arbitrary decamer random primers, revealed 97.16% polymorphism. Similarity values among the land races ranged from 0.58 to 0.89 indicating wide diversity.The extent of diversity of the accessions was assessed using heterozygosity arithmetic mean value in land races (0.71) and cultivars (0.54). Marker Index (MI) revealed higher values in land races (120.83) than improved varieties (51.74).The land races and improved varieties formed separate clusters at 0.65 similarity suggesting that genetically distant land races could be potentially valuable sources for enlarging and enriching the genepool of improved varieties.