Detection of natural genetic diversity of <i style="">Gaultheria fragrantissima</i> landraces by RAPDs: An endangered woody oil bearing plant of Indo-China Himalayas

Abstract

Indian winter green <i>(Gaultheria fragrantissima)</i> (Erieaceae) is an endangered aromatic plant containing highest amount of methyl salicylate among the plant kingdom. Earlier, wide ranging oil bearing capabilities of the populations of <i style="">G. fragrantissima</i> were identified by us. Therefore, random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) was used to fingerprint 23 genotypes of eastern Himalayas. A high degree of polymorphism was detected with 5 informative primers namely, OPE-03, OPE-04, OPE-7, OPE-18 and OPE-20. Among these, OPE-3 produced the highest (87.5%) while OPE-07 produced the lowest (53.85%) degree of polymorphism. While the extent of total variability was recorded to be 68.52%, the inter- and intra-population variability was found to be 53% and 46%, respectively. A resemblance matrix was developed, using Simple Matching Coefficient, to compute cluster analysis. It was concluded that the RAPD markers detected a sufficient degree of polymorphism to differentiate among the <i>Gaultheria</i> genotypes, which will be useful for conservation of this endangered plant species.