Assessment of genetic diversity of medicinal plants by RAPD markers

Adulteration in medicinal plant products is a serious concern throughout the world and especially in countries like Pakistan where we have very unique and important medicinal plant species, which require our attention. Identification of mixture of plant parts or powder is impossible by conventional identification methods using morphological markers. The best method and tool for identification in such cases could be use of some sophisticated techniques like molecular markers based on genomic DNA. Further, it is need of the day to explore the genetic diversity of medicinal plants for their better production. In current study, collection of some medicinal plants was done from different areas of Azad Jammu Kashmir (Pakistan) to assess their genetic diversity, relationship, and variations using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Among 50 selected medicinal plants observed average polymorphism was 26.05%, 33.98% and 34.64% via primer OPC - 7, OPL - 11 and OPO - 08 respectively. Highest polymorphic information content was shown by primer OPC 7 (0.542), followed by OPO - 08 (0.423) and OPL - 11(0.343). RAPD markers are proved a good tool for checking polymorphism and genetic diversity. Results highlight that by using RAPD markers, large medicinal plant collections can be explored and we can use such data to nominate and characterize different medicinal plants wisely.