Genetic Diversity of some Basil Varieties Estimated using RAPD, SCoT and ISSR Techniques

Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) belongs to Lamiaceae family considered as important medicinal plant, showing several variations in morphology. RAPD, SCoT and ISSR analyses for herb growth among four varieties (Baldy, French, Thai, and Lemon basil) were done. In the present study, the four varieties were characterized using RAPD, SCoT and ISSR markers. A total of 84 major RAPD amplified fragments were produced, out of them 55 (65.48%) were polymorphic and the average of polymorphism percentage was 60.21 %. In SCoT analysis, a total of 79 major SCoT amplified fragments were produced, out of them 51 (94.56%) were polymorphic. . A total of 59 major ISSR amplified fragments were produced, out of them 44 (74.58%) were polymorphic. The polymorphism percentage ranged from 0.00 % (HB14) to 91.6 % (809B). It could be concluded that RAPD, SCoT and ISSR used as effective tools to identify similarity and relationship between the genotypes which are potentially helpful in breeding programs. While this discrimination capability for the RAPD technique confirmed by P%, and Rp values which were 60.21 and 4.55 respectively, compared with the same values for SCoT and ISSR-technique which were 54.83, 38.30, 3.15 and 3.90 respectively. This indicates the high discriminatory potential of using RAPD primers compared with SCoT and ISSR primers. Where, RAPD markers were more discriminating, provided more informative data.