Assessment of Diversity in Kasuri Methi (Trigonella corniculata L.) Using Morphological and Molecular Markers with Physiological Character Analysis

Kasuri methi (Trigonella corniculata L.) is an annual herb that is primarily grown in Northern India during the rabi season. The demand for Kasuri methi is increasing every year,but the production is decreasing due to the decreasing availability of water. The genetic divergence evaluation in Kasuri methi germplasm is essential to increase its adaptability in other areas and breed drought tolerant varieties. The selection of breeding parents and the conservation of germplasm depend on the availability of genetic diversity among Kasuri methi genotypes. Therefore, it was important to characterize available germplasm of Kasuri methi using morphological, physiological, and molecular parameters. Environmental factors and crop development stages impact a plant’s morpho-physiological traits. Compared to morphological and physiological examination, molecular indicators take far less time and are not affected by the environment or the stages of plant development The study was done with 18 genotypes for morpho-physiological and 24 genotypes were used for molecular analysis. For morphological studies, the minimal descriptors provided by NBPGR, New Delhi, were used. Relative water content (RWC), chlorophyll, carotenoid content, and membrane stability index were recorded during the flowering stage for physiological studies. The RWC and MSI showed significant variation among genotypes, while carotenoid and chlorophyll content showed non-significant variation. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that morphophysiological characters, along with molecular markers such as SSR markers, are an efficient method for analysing the biodiversity among Kasuri methi genotypes, and sufficient diversity exists in the genotypes. The maximum dissimilarity was observed between JKM13 and JKM6 based on the morphological characters. Based on molecular characters, the maximum dissimilarity exists between JKM6 and PS2. Both cases JKM6 stand out from the others in the dendrograms, which ranged from 0.600 to 0.967. The maximum similarity between PS6 and PS7 was found, and the minimum similarity between JKM6 and PS2. Both cases JKM6 stand out from the others in the dendrograms.