Study of Gene Polymorphism in Litchi Chinensis Sonn. (Sapindaceae) using Various DNA Markers

Litchi chinensis (Gaertn.) Sonn. is commercially an important plant much valued for its fruits belong to family Sapindaceae found both wild and introduced, in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. Litchi is reported to have been introduced into India from China towards the end of 18th century. It is now cultivated in number of countries outside China including India, Burma, Thailand, South Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, USA, Brazil, West Indies and South Africa. India and South Africa are the largest producers of Litchi outside China. In the present study RAPD markers were used to study genetic diversity in genotypes of the Litchi chinensis. A total 28 genotypes of Litchi chinensis collected from different localities of two states (Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand), were taken into consideration. Ten RAPD primers were screened with template DNA. Two RAPD primers (OPB-19 and OPC-08) were selected for further profiling based on distinct banding patterns obtained. A total of 28 bands ranging from 300bp -3000bp were obtained with two RAPD primers. Out of these, 18 bands were polymorphic revealing 64% polymorphism across all genotypes of Litchi chinensis. Similarity coefficient value varied from 0.51 to 1.00 across different genotypes. The results show that RAPD profiles are sufficiently informative and useful to unravel the genetic diversity in Litchi Chinensis. The information on genetic diversity of Litchi could further be utilized in the breeding of genetically divergent and geographically isolated genotypes to obtain better germplasm in terms of yield and quality.