SSR based Molecular Diversity and Marker-trait Association in Mungbean (Vigna radiata L.) under Deficit Moisture Stress

Background: In recent years, breeding of climate resilient varieties particularly for deficit moisture stress is the major focus for sustainable crop production. Molecular markers being independent of environmental influence, SSR based genotyping and marker-trait association can address such a complex trait with utmost precision for molecular breeding in mungbean. Methods: In the present study, ten SSR primer based genotyping was carried out in a set of elite germplasm lines to gauge genetic variation and explore marker-trait association under deficit moisture stress. Result: The DNA amplification resulted as high as nine amplicons with 52.8% polymorphism. The primer GmDREB-2 was shown to be highly informative while TM-VF displayed high discriminative power for varietal identification. The wild accession Vigna glabrescens followed by Dhauli and Phulbani local produced unique molecular finger print by a number of primers and as such turned to be highly divergent genotypes. Only thirteen significant marker-trait associations were explored among which a 1610bp CodA_3 marker had shown strong association (p less than 0.001) with stress tolerance score and germination percentage under deficient moisture stress. While, GmDREB2_2, CodA_1 and TAA170_1 exhibited significant MTA with root length, ICCM 0249_5 with clusters/plant and both TAA 170_2 and RD 22_2 with seed yield/plant. The above trait-specific molecular markers may be considered useful for screening of parental lines and marker assisted selection in mungbean breeding program for deficit moisture stress tolerance.