Assessment of genetic diversity in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.) through ISSR marker

Cowpea is a self-pollinated lagumenous crop showing different growth habits and morphological traits, but their genetic and geographical variations are not clear. Present study was therefore planned to find diversity based on morphological and molecular markers in fifty-six cowpea genotypes originated from different regions. Analysis using twenty polymorphic ISSR markers, an average 88.93% polymorphism was found with polymorphic information content and resolving power of 0.783 and 2.74 respectively. Analysis of molecular variance exhibited that different genotypes and markers under study have significant variance at genetic level. Dendrogram grouping indicated Jaccard similarity range of 52.00 to 83.00 % mostly based upon their place of origin and morphological characters while principal coordinate analysis exhibited clustering based upon growth habits. Present diversity analysis revealed that cowpea genotypes can be differentiated using ISSR markers. Genotypes based upon genetic, morphological and geographical differences may be chosen for developing a breeding programme.