Genetic variation and gene flow estimation of Nepenthes khasiana Hook. F- A threatened insectivorous plant of India as revealed by RAPD markers

Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were utilized for determination of diversity within and among the three populations of Nepenthes khasiana Hook f., a threatened insectivorous plant of Meghalaya (India). A total of 90 bands were generated from 10 random amplification polymorphic DNA (RAPD) primers of which 71 were found to be polymorphic (78.89%). Nei’s gene diversity (h) ranged between 0.124–0.201 with overall diversity of 0.228 while Shannon’s information index I) values recorded between 0.187–0.308 with an average value of 0.352. The values of gene flow (Nm = 1.284) and the diversity among populations (0.280) recorded demonstrates higher genetic variation within the population. AMOVA analysis revealed a low level of genetic variation (21.96%) among the populations. This study indicates that some variation still exists within and between the existing populations of N. khasiana, thus, these populations could provide materials for re-establishing of this important rare and threatened species.