~ 784 ~ The Pharma Innovation Journal 2021; 10(8): 784-791 ISSN (E): 2277- 7695 ISSN (P): 2349-8242 NAAS Rating: 5.23 TPI 2021; 10(8): 784-791 © 2021 TPI www.thepharmajournal.com Received: 18-06-2021 Accepted: 24-07-2021 Deepa Singh Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Telangana, India SNCVL Pushpavalli Assistant Professor, Institute of Biotechnology, Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Telangana, India S Vanisri Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Telangana, India G Anil Kumar Agricultural Research Station, PJTSAU, Adilabad, Telangana, India Corresponding Author: SNCVL Pushpavalli Assistant Professor, Institute of Biotechnology, Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Telangana, India Assessment of genetic diversity in chickpea genotypes (Cicer arietinum L.) using agro-morphological and SSR markers Deepa Singh, SNCVL Pushpavalli, S Vanisri and G Anil Kumar Abstract The genetic diversity among thirty six chickpea genotypes was assessed by morphological and molecular studies. The Mahalanobis D 2 statistic grouped 36 genotypes into six clusters with the largest cluster comprising 20 genotypes. 100 seed weight contributed the most to genetic divergence. Out of 31 SSR markers used in the study, 28 were found to be polymorphic. A total of 107 alleles were detected across 36 chickpea genotypes with an average of 3.4 alleles per locus. Polymorphic information content ranged from 0.52 to 0.84. DICE similarity coefficient classified the genotypes into 4 clusters of which cluster I was the largest with 14 genotypes. The genetic similarity coefficient ranged from 0.03 to 0.78. Keywords: Chickpea, D 2 analysis, genetic diversity, SSR markers, PIC Introduction Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an important Rabi legume crop. Chickpea was cultivated on 97 lakh hectares in India during 2019-20, with yield and productivity of 11.08 MT and 1142 kg/ha, respectively. (Source: Directorate of Economics and Statistics, DAC&FW 2019-20). The crop is majorly grown in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh. Chickpea meets its nitrogen requirements through biological nitrogen fixation and provides a substantial quantity of residual nitrogen for future crops, improving soil quality, long-term stability, and sustainability. It plays an important part in meeting the daily nutritional needs of the Indian populace. Chickpea production may be increased by selecting better genotypes that are directly related to seed yield and using these genotypes in breeding programs to enhance grain yield. The most commonly targeted traits for chickpea improvement programs are yield and yield contributing characters. Yield is a complicated trait that is influenced by a variety of variables and environment. The primary challenge in plant breeding is the identification and use of different germplasm. Understanding the patterns of genetic diversity and accurate and thorough descriptions of breeding materials assists the future breeding programmes. Mahalonobis D 2 statistic is widely used for analysis of genetic diversity by many researchers in crop plants (Rao, 1952) [11] . Several researchers studied genetic diversity, clustering pattern, and proportional contribution of various characteristics towards selection effectiveness and divergence. For successful selection, principal component analysis is performed to identify and convert a set of correlated variables into a set of smaller variables known as primary components. However, it is often assumed that use of molecular markers is more trustworthy and reproducible than morphological characterization. Various marker systems have been used for chickpea characterization, including amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), and microsatellite markers like simple-sequenced repeats (SSR) or sequenced tagged microsatellite sites (STMS) (Iruela et al. 2002 [2] ; Nguyen et al. 2004 [9] ; Sachdeva et al. 2018) [13] . Because of co-dominance, multiple allelic nature, high polymorphism, locus specificity, reproducibility, and automation SSRs has been the marker of choice. The present study aims at assessment of genetic diversity among a set of 36 promising advanced breeding lines which can be the potential parents for development of high yielding varieties.