Genetic Diversity Assessed yhrough RAPD Markers in Terminalia Pallida Brandis

Random amplified polymorphic DNA markers were used to evaluate the genetic diversity in a representative population of Terminalia pallida from six different geographical regions of chittoor district. 20 OPA primers were used for the RAPD analysis. A total of 33 bands yielded from 7 reproducible primers, with a mean of 4.28 amplified bands per primer. The plant species showed 69.5% polymorphism. Jaccards similarity co-efficients ranged from 0.167 to 0.600. A dendrogram clustered based on the UPMGA clustering method revealed two clusters. Cluster-1 comprises 1 and 2 accessions, and cluster-2 comprises 3, 4, 5 and 6 accessions. 4 and 6 accessions are genetically more diverse than other accessions. Our results imply that T. Pallida possess high level of genetic diversity, compared to other endangered plant species. Present study is the first report on molecular characterization, of T. Pallida. It suggests RAPD is a good molecular marker to study the genetic diversity of these species.