Genetic diversity in lac resin-secreting insects belonging to Kerria spp., as revealed through ISSR markers

The Indian lac insect Kerria lacca is harnessed in India for commercial production of lac, which has diversified industrial applications. Many of the geographical races of this species are under threat of extinction due to increasingly drastic local deviations in climate patterns. Thus, there is need for documentation and conservation of the lac insect biodiversity adapted especially for local climatic conditions and host species. The genetic diversity among twenty lines of commercially important Kerria spp. was analyzed using Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) technique. Seventeen ISSR primers produced 96.1% genetic polymorphism in the lac insect lines under study. The clustering dendrogram segregated the twenty lines into four major clusters with similarity coefficients between 0.25 and 0.81. The first three principal coordinates revealed 43.1% of the total genetic variation. The above results reveal significant genetic variability in the lines, which could be used for genetic improvement of lac insects.

► Genetic diversity assessed in twenty lines of commercially cultured Kerria spp.
► Seventeen selected ISSR primers produced 96.1% genetic polymorphism.
► Twenty lines grouped into four clusters with similarity coefficients 0.25–0.81.
► First three principal coordinates constitute 43.13% of total genetic variation.