Genetic analysis of parental genotypes for mapping of water use efficiency and root traits in mulberry

Abstract

The study was undertaken to assess the marker polymorphism and genetic distance in a set of nine mulberry genotypes contrasting for Water Use Efficiency (WUE) and root traits, short-listed by screening 273 germplasm accessions based on growth and 13C values as a prelude to genome mapping studies. A total of 153 RAPD primers were employed to generate 1159 markers of which 79.29% were polymorphic. The average genetic distance between the parental genotypes was found to be 0.256. Hierarchical clustering by UPGMA method resulted in six clusters. Based on the morpho-physiological characters, marker polymorphism and number of progenies available for mapping studies, the progenies of Himachal Local x MS-3 and Dudhia White x UP were chosen for mapping of WUE and root traits respectively. A total of 405 markers were polymorphic between Himchal Local and MS-3 and, 350 markers were polymorphic between Dudhia White and UP which can be utilized in segregation analysis.