Molecular characterization of curry leaf genotypes using ISSR markers

Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng is a tree spice belongs to the family Rutaceae. The presence of variability in breeding population is prior need for any crop improvement programme. This calls for an evaluation of curry leaf genotypes to study the variability in South India. In this study, a total of thirty accessions of curry leaf were collected from various places and were profiled using 13 Inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR) markers. The molecular analysis resulted in PIC value greater than 0.5 for UBC-856 followed by UBC-807, UBC-834 and UBC-835 and the average PIC value was 0.83 indicating that the markers were efficient in revealing diversity among the studied genotypes. Based on the similarity index, genotypes were grouped into nine clusters in dendrogram. Cluster- I was the largest comprising of 15 genotypes followed by Cluster-II, Cluster IV, Cluster V, Cluster VI, Cluster VII, and Cluster VIII with 2 genotypes each while Cluster IX had 1 genotype. The markers were able to distinguish them into distinct genotypes with some located in different clusters. The wide genetic variability observed using ISSR markers would be of much valuable for efficient management of germplasm and for effective utilization of materials in breeding programmes to select the superior genotypes of desirable characteristics. This information could be used as the basis for curry leaf conservation and cultivation activities in South India.