20 Journal of Biological Engineering Research and Review, 2015; 2(1): 20-24 © 2015 Shanti Braj Educational and Welfare Society ISSN: 2349-3232 Online Available online at www.biologicalengineering.in Research Article Genetic Diversity Analysis in Turmeric (Curcuma Longa L.) Based on SSR Markers Ashwani Kumar Singh 1* , Priyanka Nanda 2 , Anupam Singh 3 and Bijendra Singh 4 1 Department of Biotech., Faculty of Life Sci. and Tech., Shri Venkateshwara Univ., Amroha, Meerut, U.P., India 2 Molecular Biology and Tissue Culture Laboratory, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Lodhi Road, New Delhi 3 Department of Biotechnology, Bansal College of Engineering and Technology, Lucknow, U.P., India 4 Department of Horticulture, Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel Uni. of Agriculture and Tech., Meerut, U.P., India * Email: ashwani307@gmail.com RECEIVED: 03/06/2015 REVISED: 30/06/2015 ACCEPTED: 08/07/2015 PUBLISHED: 15/07/2015 ABSTRACT Turmeric being an economically important crop due to its use in the food, ayurvedic medicine and pharmaceutical industries, attracts the attention in many areas of research work. In the current study, genetic diversity of 10 turmeric genotype was investigated using SSR primers. DNA was extracted from young leaves using modified CTAB method. The banding pattern was analyzed using UPGMA based Jaccard's similarity coefficient. The results revealed that SSR markers showed distinct polymorphism among the genotypes. The dendrogram revealed 2 major distinct clusters, which showed a significant genetic variation ranging between 0.60 and 0.98 among the different genotypes. Based on this study, the larger range of similarity values for related cultivars using SSR provide a tool for the assessment of genetic diversity and relationships. The highest PIC value of 0.98 for the SSR loci was associated with higher level of polymorphism. The findings distinctly identified and characterized 10 genotypes using 10 different SSR markers which can be used in background selections during backcross breeding programs. Keywords: Genetic diversity, SSR marker, Polymorphism, Dendrogram, Genotypes. INTRODUCTION Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) is one of the important perennial spice crops popularly known as “Indian saffron”. It belongs to family Zingiberaceae and can be vegetatively propagated using its underground rhizomes [1]. While originated in South East Asia, India has the predominant position as the largest producer of turmeric in the world. Besides India, it is also grown in China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Srilanka and other tropical countries. The highest diversity is concentrated in India and Thailand [2]. Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Maharashtra and Karnataka are the major turmeric producing states in India. Over 80 species are reported in the genus Curcuma (Zingiberaceae) from Indo Malayan region and about 40 of them are indigenous to India [3]. A comprehensive global taxonomic revision of the genus has not yet been attempted. Conventional taxonomic techniques in conjunction with molecular biology tools may go a long way in resolving the taxonomic confusion prevailing in the genus. Though a few studies on morphological and anatomical characterization of Curcuma species and cultivars have been attempted, not much has been done on molecular characterization [1]. Molecular marker based study of turmeric can be used in improving the yield of valuable metabolites in more quantity through marker assisted selection and genetic manipulation. Since hybridization is ineffective in most cases, genetic improvement is often limited to germplasm selection and mutation breeding. Because of its increasing demand in kitchen and pharmaceutical industries, turmeric growing techniques have been the focus of several studies [6,7]. However, to obtain further increases in productivity, information regarding the crop’s genetic diversity is required for breeding programs [8]. DNA marker technology has provided an efficient tool to facilitate plant genetic resource conservation and management. The current study utilizes SSR marker system due to the fact that they are highly reproducible due to their primer length and to the high stringency achieved by the annealing temperature and provide highly polymorphic fingerprints [9,10]. The study is focused on genetic diversity and characterization of the genotypes. This might lead to genetic improvement, selection of high yielding germplasm and evaluation of accessions from different geographical regions of Indian continent that increase the efficiency of selection in breeding programs. MATERIALS AND METHODS Plant material Ten genotypes of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) were used in the current study. Leaf samples were collected from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, U.P., India, India (Table 1).