Full Length Research Paper

Genetic diversity of Santalum album using random amplified polymorphic DNAs

S. Abdul Azeez^1*, R. Nelson², A. Prasadbabu³ and M. Srinivas Rao⁴

¹Department of Gene Technology, JJ. College Arts and Science, Pudukkotai-622 404,Tamil Nadu, India.

²Department of Botany, Government Arts College, Ariyater-621 713, Tamil Nadu. India

³Directorate of Rice Research (DRR), Hyderabad, India.

⁴Zed Labs, Guntur, India.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: sa.azeez5@gmail.com.

Accepted 26 May, 2009

Santalum album is a parasitic, evergreen tree growing primarily in south Central India, in the dry forest of the Decan plateau. Sandalwood is found distributed all over the country with over 90% of the area in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It is of great economic importance because of its fragrant heartwood and oil. In the present study Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique was used to accesses the genetic diversity among 30 accessions of S. album collected from different parts of South India. A total of 248 polymorphic amplicons were obtained from 30 primers. The value of Jaccard coefficient ranged from 0.66 to 0.99. Similarity results indicated the high level of genetic diversity existing in S. album. Cluster analysis using UPGMA separated the accession into 2 major groups. These results promote the initiative to integrate this RAPD markers in the discrimination of genotypes which can be exploited in the improvement of S. album.

Key words: Santalum album, RAPD, molecular markers, DNA, genetic diversity.