Morphological and microsatellite marker based polymorphic assessment of genetic diversity and relationship of mango (<em>Mangifera indica</em> L.)

91-100Genetic diversity of 19 genotypes of mango was characterized both by morphological and 20 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Characterization of mango genotypes based on morphological and molecular basis is a better approach for designing breeding projects. On the basis of the present findings it was observed that “Sabri” and “Amrapali” showed dwarf stature, while “Swarna Jahangir” was found to be vigorous in its growth. The unweighted pair group method of arithematic- average (UPGMA) dendrogram based on genetic distance segregated the 19 mango genotypes into two main clusters. The polymorphic information content (PIC) values ranged from 0.38 to 0.81. Jaccard’s similarity coefficient values ranged from 0.15 to 0.79 with polymorphism of 77.5 per cent. Three unique fingerprints were identified in three genotypes which can help in varietal identification. A total of 49 loci (42 polymorphic and 7 monomorphic) were detected with amplified size range of 110 to 359 bp. The maximum numbers of loci (i.e. 5) were detected by the primer MiSHRS-48. Out of 20 SSR primers, 18 were polymorphic. Pusa Surya was found to be the most diverse genotype both morphologically and genetically. The similarity for Pusa Surya was 15 per cent with remaining Indian genotypes. The significant variation exists among the genotypes based on morphological and biochemical characters but with the use of SSR markers, assessment of the genetic diversity can help us to plan a future breeding programme using the diverse parent