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MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION AND GENETIC RELATIONSHIP AMONG LOQUAT (ERIOBOTRYA JAPONICA LINDL.) GENOTYPES OF PAKISTAN ASSESSED BY RAPD MARKERS

AZHAR HUSSAIN¹, NADEEM A. ABBASI^1*, ISHFAQ A. HAFIZ¹, ZAHOOR AHMAD² AND S.M. SAQLAN NAQVI³

Abstract: Loquat is an important sub-tropical fruit crop of Pakistan. A number of loquat genotypes are there in the loquat growing areas of Pakistan, however, no research work has been reported regarding the description of these genotypes. As a result, there is no standard or identified loquat cultivar available to the growers in the loquat growing pockets of Pakistan. In the present study, 42 genotypes identified through the morphological and physical characters were subjected to the DNA analysis to determine the level of genetic diversity among the local loquat genotypes found in different areas of Pakistan and to assess the relationships among them. Out of 48 amplification products scored, 47 bands (97.92%) were found to be polymorphic. According to the dandrogram, two main groups of the loquat genotypes were identified. In general, all genotypes belonging to a certain location came under any one of the two groups. In this study, RAPD proved to be a reliable technique for revealing relationship among loquat genotypes.
 

¹Department of Horticulture, PMAS Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Pakistan

²Crop Science Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan

³Department of Biochemistry, PMAS Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Pakistan