Genetic Diversity Revealed Among Rattan Genotypes from Andaman and Nicobar Islands Based on RAPD and ISSR Markers

The oriental spiny, climbing species of palms are referred to as ‘rattans’ and often are regarded as ‘green gold’ for their unique characteristics including strength, durability and flexibility. Rattans supply a basic raw material for the cane industry and are well known for their medicinal and traditional uses in basketry and bridge making. There is extensive global demand for both raw and processed canes worldwide, more than 700 million people reportedly trade or use rattan [1]. The long-term survival and evolution of every species depends on the available diversity in its present habitat. Therefore, an understanding of the current diversity status of forest genetic resources is a prime step for developing efficient forest conservation programme and breeding strategies to cope up with the current scenario [2]. The genetic diversity is a fundamental component of biodiversity and is closely related to geographic distribution of genotypes that constitutes subspecies, races or ecotypes. The DNA based diversity detected by molecular markers is usually defined as ‘‘genetic variation’’ to differentiate it from the phenotypic variation evolved due to the adaptive potential of populations. The advent of molecular marker techniques, bioinformatics and the use of geographical information system (GIS) could help to develop better methods to survey, sample and assess the genetic diversity [3]. Molecular markers such as restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs), random amplified polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs), Inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR), amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), single sequence repeats (SSR) and single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) are widely applied to reveal genetic diversity, establish varietal or species identification and to understand phylogenetic relationships and genetic mapping.