Genetic diversity in tuberose (Polianthes tuberose L.) using morphological and ISSR markers

Tuberose is the most important bulbous plant grown both for cut flowers as well as for loose flowers. The flowers are more valued for their sweet and lingering pleasant fragrance. During the year 2012, both field and lab experiment was conducted to characterize the single category genotypes of tuberose collected from different states of India. Seven genotypes were subjected to morphological and molecular characterization. Results on morphological parameters clearly indicate significant differences among varieties for all quantitative characters except for vase life and floret length. Six ISSR primers viz., 808, 836, 840, 842, 855 and 857 were used for genetic diversity studies. A total of 62 bands were produced across seven genotypes, of which 53 bands were polymorphic, accounting for 85.48% polymorphism. The ISSR dendrogram grouped the genotypes into two major clusters. The genotypes Calcutta Single and Prajwal recorded the highest similarity index value of 0.706 which were considered closely related genotypes. Among the seven genotypes, Hyderabad Single and PhuleRajani are divergent from other geneotypes viz., Shringar, GK-T-C-4, ArkaNirantara, Prajwal and Calcutta Single.