Assessment of genetic diversity among collected genotypes of Chlorophytum borivilianum using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers

Chlorophytum borivilianum (Family: Liliaceae), an important threatened medicinal herb is designated as 'Rare' in Red Data Book of Indian plants. Morphological as well as biochemical markers used in the authentication of herbal drugs have many limitations due to the impact of environmental conditions. Molecular markers therefore, are an important tool in quality assurance and preservation of germplasm of medicinal plant species in the plant kingdom. In this study, RAPD markers were used to assess genetic diversity in nine genotypes of C. borivilianum collected from different geographical regions of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Out of the 43 bands obtained, 26 were polymorphic, with (67.49) percent polymorphism, thus, revealing a high degree of polymorphism. Percentage of polymorphism detected with each primer was as high as 80.00 (OP L18) and as low as 33.30 (OP L12). The Jaccard's similarity coefficient ranged from 0.609 to 0.810. The maximum similarity value was noticed between V(3) and V(5) genotypes collected from Lamni (C.G.) and Chitrakoot (U.P.), respectively.