Genetic diversity assessment in chickpea genotypes using STMS

Sequence Tagged Microsatellite Markers (STMS) were employed to assess the genetic diversity in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), the third most important grain legume crop in the world. STMS analysis with eleven microsatellites markers of 24 chickpea genotypes amplified total 49 alleles. The average numbers of alleles per locus was 4.45, whereas effective numbers of alleles was 3.23. The eleven primer pairs amplified single loci producing a minimum of 3 (NCPGR51) and maximum of 6 (NCPGR41, NCPGR90) alleles. The mean Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) value from all tested microsatellite was 0.68. Highest PIC value (0.77) was observed for two primers viz. NCPGR21 and NCPGR90 but the primer NCPGR90 showed highest Shannon's information index (1.61), hence it was found more informative. The Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Averages (UPGMA) based dendrogram showed two major clusters and distinguished all the genotypes. The highest genetic diversity was observed between KAK-2 and Dahod Yellow. The microsatellites could successfully detect intraspecific genetic diversity in chickpea. The divergent genotypes may be further used in breeding programmes.