Journal of Medicinal Plants Research Vol. 5(5), pp. 823-830, 4 March 2011 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/JMPR ISSN 1996-0875 ©2010 Academic Journals Full Length Research Paper Assessment of genetic diversity of indigenous turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) germplasm from Pakistan using RAPD markers Hikmat Ullah Jan 1 , Malik Ashiq Rabbani 2 and Zabta Khan Shinwari 1 * 1 Department of Biotechnology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan. 2 Institute of Agri-Biotechnology and Genetic Resources, NARC, Islamabad, Pakistan. Accepted 20 December, 2010 Molecular genetic fingerprints of indigenous turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) genotypes were developed using Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) marker to elucidate the genetic diversity among the genotypes. DNA was isolated using CTAB method. The amplification was accomplished by using 10 primers and the specific PCR working program. Ten decamer-primers generated 95 RAPD fragments, of which 92 fragments were polymorphic with 96.84% of polymorphism. Some of the RAPD markers were useful for genotypes discrimination and identification. Most of the RAPD markers studied showed different level of genetic polymorphism. Amplified fragment sizes ranged from 200 to 3640 bp. Pair-wise Nei and Li’s similarity coefficient value ranged from 0.00 to 0.71 for 20 genotypes of turmeric. A dendrogram was constructed based on the unweighted pair group method using arithmetic averages. Cluster analysis of data using UPGMA algorithm placed the 20 genotypes of turmeric into four groups that are somewhat congruent with classification based on morphological characters proposed by earlier works. This analysis grouped all genotypes from Bannu with two Haripur genotypes and clearly differentiated Kasur and Bannu genotypes into separate groups. This method of analysis can be helpful in selecting diverse parents and give broadness to the germplasm base of turmeric breeding programs in the future. Key words: Curcuma longa, RAPD markers, genetic diversity, polymorphism, UPGMA, Pakistan. INTRODUCTION Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a plant of the family Zingibe- raceae commonly known as the ginger family and com- prises about 70 species (Smart and Simmonds, 1992). India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of turmeric. Turmeric is found throughout South and South- east Asia with a few species extending to China, Aus- tralia and the South Pacific. The highest diversity is concentrated in India and Thailand, with at least 40 spe- cies in each area, followed by Burma, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam. Daod and Aslam (1996) have explained that turmeric has been specialized in Kasur, Sahiwal and Okara areas in Punjab and Bannu, Pubbi and Haripur areas in the Province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa *Corresponding author. E-mail: shinwari@qau.edu.pk. Pakistan. Scientists are increasingly recognizing the importance of various spice-crops, especially turmeric. Vavilova (1990) reported that the powdered root of turmeric has been used for making a deep yellow dye for fabrics. It is also used as a coloring material for medicines at times. Turmeric plays an important role in the food industry, as a substitution of synthetic coloring, besides being used for its medicinal and pharmacological qualities (Scartezzini and Speroni, 2000). Turmeric has attracted much atten- tion due to its significant medicinal potential (Cousins et al., 2007). A compound Curcuminoid is present in turme- ric and acts as an inhibitor of the Human Immunodefi- ciency Virus Type1 (HIV-1) integrase (Mazumder et al., 1995). Turmeric oil is composed of several monoterpene and sesquiterpene compounds such as zingiberene, ar- turmerone and turmerone (Apisariyakul et al., 1995). The