MOLECULAR CHARACTERISATION OF CATHARANTHUS ROSEUS CULTIVARS FROM VARIOUS REGIONS OF RAJASTHAN BASED ON RAPD MARKER

Genetic relationship between ten wild cultivars of C. roseus L. from four different regions of Rajasthan (Jaipur, Bikaner, Kota, and Jhalawar) with the marked difference in climatic condition was investigated using RAPD markers. Catharanthus roseus L. is a storehouse of several secondary metabolites such as vindoline, catharanthine, vinblastine, and vincristine, etc., thus making it an important source of drugs. A number of varieties of C. roseus L. occurs in wild and are cultivated in India. However, an evolutionary study has been limited. Using 24 decamer primers, we obtained a total of 221 amplicons with an average of 9.20 bands per primer. Out of 221 bands, 187 were found to be polymorphic, and the level of polymorphism was 84.61 percent. The average number of polymorphic bands per primer was 7.79. The average genetic similarity coefficient observed was 0.51 ± 0.186. Phylogenetic tree constructed using the neighbor-joining method of cluster analysis separated all the 10 samples of the C. roseus into two clusters. RAPD analysis thus was effective in differentiating the various cultivars, and the resulting high percentage of variation seems to have accumulated in the cultivars of different regions as a result of adaptation.