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MOLECULAR ANALYSIS OF GENETIC DIVERSITY IN BRASSICA SPECIES

S. J. ABBAS­­¹, FARHATULLAH², KHAN BAHADAR MARWAT³, I. A. KHAN¹ AND IQBAL MUNIR¹

Abstract: Brassica species are the most important source of vegetable oil and the second most important oilseed crop in the international oilseed market after soybean. Genetic improvement of the seed quality made Brassica a source for high quality edible oil for human consumption and high quality protein meal for feeding animals. To improve yield and quality of oil content of Brassica, presence of sufficient genetic diversity in the germplasm is an important prerequisite. On an average, 45.8 and 25.8 alleles were amplified using RAPD and Brassica specific SSR primer sets, respectively.  Mean genetic distance estimates ranged from 26-89% and 5-61%, respectively. Size of scorable fragments ranged from approximately 250 to >2000 bp. A high level of genetic dissimilarity (GD= up to 100%) was estimated among the 14 genotypes.  Entries were grouped in clusters using cluster analysis.  On the basis of dendrogram, most diverse genotypes were identified, that can be used in future brassica breeding program.

¹Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, NWFP Agricultural University, Peshawar, Pakistan,

²Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, NWFP Agricultural University, Peshawar, Pakistan.

³Department of Weed Science, NWFP Agricultural University, Peshawar, Pakistan.