DNA marker-assisted evaluation of cultivated and local mulberry genotypes of southern India

Germplasm evaluation is essential in any crop improvement program and genetic characterization atmorphological and molecular level is very vital for breeding programs to be successful. Twenty six cultivated and localgenotypes of mulberry were subjected to diversity analysis with RAPD markers. Among the total 31 RAPD primers studied, 24were polymorphic and 7 were monomorphic. Of the total 197 loci obtained from 24 polymorphic primers, 110 loci (55.83%)were polymorphic and 87 (44.16%) were monomorphic. A clear grouping was seen among the cultivated genotypes based onyield with varieties like S36, V1, S54 and M5 showing proximity to each other and sharing a close similarity. Local genotypesare rich reservoirs of resistant gene sources and are well acclimatized to the prevailing environmental conditions.Utilizationof these along with other high yielding varieties will produce various combinations of resistance sources which can beincorporated into high yielding varieties