Molecular fingerprinting and assessment of genetic variations among advanced breeding lines of Moringa oleifera L. by using seed protein, RAPD and Cytochrome P450 based markers

Moringa oleifera L. is one of the important vegetable crop having huge commercial and nutraceutical value. Understanding the genetic diversity among advanced breeding lines is prerequisite to any genetic improvement and development of superior cultivars. In the current study, genetic variation and relationships among seven advanced breeding lines were investigated using seed protein profile, 31 RAPD and 10 Cytochrome P450 gene based markers. Seed protein exhibited variation in breeding lines G1 and G5 by lacking the protein bands of 21 kDa and 35 kDa. Selected RAPD and Cytochrome P450 gene markers showed an average of 79.68 and 86.44% polymorphism respectively. Marker index RAPD (1.65), Cytochrome P450 (4.81) suggests that Cytochrome P450 gene markers are most efficient for variability analysis. Dendrogram constructed for genetic similarity using UPGMA clustered genotypes into two main clusters and two sub-clusters, indicates variation within the lines and a major cultivar. High bootstrap values (100 and 85) were obtained at major nodes of the dendrogram by means of WINBOOT software. Principal coordinate analysis plots of the two markers were found highly concordant with each other. Mantel test was employed to determine cophenetic correlation and value above 0.90 for both marker systems was obtained. Distinct bands observed in KDM-01 and Dhanraj can be utilized for marker assisted selection. Comparing these functional and non-functional markers suggested that these marker systems are promising in assessment of genetic diversity among advance breeding lines of Moringa oleifera L. and could be exploited for breeding program, DNA fingerprinting, marker assisted selection and cultivar development.