Full Length Research Paper

Genetic fidelity in micropropagated plantlets of Ochreinauclea missionis an endemic, threatened and medicinal tree using ISSR markers

M. Chandrika and V. Ravishankar Rai*

Department of Studies in Applied Botany and Biotechnology, University of Mysore, Mysore-570006, India.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: rrai33@hotmail.com.

Abbreviations: CTAB, Cetyl trimethylammonium bromide; PCR, polymerase chain reaction; ISSR, inter-simple sequence repeat; UPGMA, unweighted pair group method with arithmetic averaging.

Accepted 5 January, 2009

Inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers were employed to determine the genetic fidelity of Ochreinauclea missionis plantlets multiplied in vitro by using nodal segments. Thirty two ISSR primers were screened, of which twenty nine primers generated total of 183 clear, distinct and reproducible bands. Among 183 bands, 178 bands were monomorphic (97.2%) and 5 bands were polymorphic patterns (2.73%). Although minor morphological variations recorded in the micropropagated plants, the developed ISSR profiles were typical to that of mother plant. A UPGMA dendrogram was constructed to show the genetic similarity among the 22 plants (21 micropropagated plants and 1 donor mother plant). In the present study, molecular profiling by using ISSR markers proved to be a reliable method for assessing genetic stability of micropropagated plants. The developed in vitro plants which ascertained stability can be reintroduced back to its original habitat for conservation purpose.

Key words: Medicinal tree, Ochreinauclea missionis, genetic fidelity, ISSR analysis.