Estimation of Genetic Diversity in Capsicum Germplasm Using Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA

Present study was undertaken to estimate genetics diversity in local and exotic genotypes of Capsicum (chili) using Randomly Amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) primers. Four RAPD primes were used to amplify genomic DNA from twenty five Capsicum genotypes. DNA fragments of various sizes ranging from 100bp to >1000bp were amplified in various Capsicum genotypes. On an average 3 alleles per genotype were amplified during present study. Estimates of Genetic distances (GD) ranged from 0 to 100%. Twenty-five genotypes were clustered in four groups A, B, C and D. It was concluded that genotypes Tomato bibber 1 and Turkish genotype B 1 were most distantly related to each other and hence it is recommended that these two genotypes should be crossed to create a segregating population with maximum genetic diversity.