_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ *Corresponding author: E-mail: tantwaik@gmail.com; International Journal of Plant & Soil Science 34(6): 92-101, 2022; Article no.IJPSS.84033 ISSN: 2320-7035 Molecular Characterization of Different Varieties of rice (Oryza sativa L.) using SSR Markers Khumeshwar Jhangel a , Keerti Tantwai a* , Niraj Tripathi a , Sajjan Kumar Pooniya a , Sharad Tiwari a , Sangita Sahni b and Bishun Deo Prasad c a Biotechnology Centre, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur – 482004, Madhya Pradesh, India. b Department of Plant Pathology, TCA, Dholi, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur-848125, Bihar, India; c Department of Agricultural Biotechnology & Molecular Biology, CBS&H, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur-848125, Bihar, India Authors’ contributions This work was carried out in collaboration among all authors. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Article Information DOI: 10.9734/IJPSS/2022/v34i630880 Open Peer Review History: This journal follows the Advanced Open Peer Review policy. Identity of the Reviewers, Editor(s) and additional Reviewers, peer review comments, different versions of the manuscript, comments of the editors, etc are available here: https://www.sdiarticle5.com/review-history/84033 Received 23 December 2021 Accepted 26 February 2022 Published 05 March 2022 ABSTRACT The present study was performed to analyze molecular diversity among different varieties of rice using SSR markers, which are effective and reliable tools for this type of analysis. A total of 34 different alleles were generated using 17 SSR primers. Out of these 33 alleles were found to be polymorphic and only one was monomorphic. On average, 2 alleles per primer and 1.94 polymorphic alleles per primer was calculated. In the cluster analysis three varieties KATKIRICE, SONUMRICE and 1010 were found to be diverse from other varieties of rice. These varieties may be used as diverse parents for the future breeding programs for rice improvement. According to Jaccard’s similarity coefficient, the highest genetic diversity was observed between KATKIRICE and CHANDRAHASNI. Both varieties were grouped distantly. Out of 17 primers, the best 10 primers were selected based on polymorphic banding patterns for genetic diversity analysis. These selected 10 primers are sufficient to discriminate the group of rice varieties. These findings not only highlight the capacity of the SSR technique but also help in the selection of diverse rice varieties for conservation and crop improvement. Original Research Article