Agricultural Research Journal

Walnut (Juglans regia L.) is an important food crop with significant economic value. However, there has been no systematic work on the genetic characterization of indigenous and exotic walnut germplasm in India. Therefore, the present study aimed to genetically characterize walnut germplasm using molecular markers (SSR). A total of 29 primers were tested on a group of 37 walnut genotypes (maintained in Ochghat fields of Solan, Himachal Pradesh), out of which 19 markers showed robust amplification and generated polymorphism. A high level of genetic diversity was detected by the SSR primer S2. UPGMA cluster analysis classified the germplasm into two groups. Comparison between morphological traits and molecular markers was conducted using the Mantel test, showing a positive correlation (r=0.85). Thus, the molecular markers and morpho-physical characters used in this study revealed a high level of polymorphism in the 37 J. regia genotypes demonstrating their efficiency for diversity analysis studies.