An insight into morphological and molecular diversity in Indian sesame cultivars

Abstract

Extent of genetic diversity in a collection of 41 sesame genotypes comprising advanced breeding lines and varieties was assessed based on phenotypic (19 morphological and quantitative traits) and genotypic (68 SSR loci) data. Wide variation was observed for quantitative traits, namely, plant height (86-137 cm). No. of capsules/ plant (42-116), days to maturity (81-103) and seed yield/ plant (10-23g)., SSR markers showed 29% polymorphism with an average of 2.8 alleles/locus and 0.409 PIC value indicating a trend of moderate level of diversity at molecular level in the collection. The results reinforce the need for using both phenotypic and molecular data for genetic diversity assessments and selecting diverse lines for breeding programmes.