Kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum L.) is known for its high nutritive value, dietary fiber, antioxidant activity, as well as for drought tolerance. It is primarily grown as a grain in India and in Africa it is either cultivated or harvested in wild. Neutral-ISSR (inter simple sequence repeat) as well as functional-SCoT (start codon targeted) and SRAP (sequence-related amplified polymorphism) markers were employed for genetic diversity studies in 96 accessions of kodo millet collected from diverse regions of India. The genetic diversity parameters like average bands per primer, Polymorphic information content, Nei's gene diversity and Shannon's information index of 11.22, 9.69; 0.12, 0.11; 0.15 ± 0.14, 0.13 ± 0.13 and 0.26 ± 0.21, 0.22 ± 0.19 was observed with neutral and functional markers respectively. Neutral markers were showing higher values as compared to functional markers for the genetic diversity parameters as discussed. Structure based analysis placed all the accessions into four sub-groups not strictly according to their geographical locations. The accessions from Bihar followed by Karnataka were showing high diversity based on both the marker systems useful for designing exploration, conservation and germplasm enrichment strategies. Further, the set of diverse accessions selected based on these markers would serve as potential sources of unique alleles and may be exploited in future for enhancement and utilization of kodo millet germplasm. Usage of African gene pool and wild species for broadening the genetic base of Indian kodo millet was also suggested based on the present studies.
Background: Kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum L) is an annual hardy crop grown in India from Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the south, to Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal in the north. It is known to have high drought tolerance and, for its potential to sustain in marginally less fertile soil. The grain has high nutritional properties thus possess medicinal values. Owing to multiple utility factors and sustainable growth rate amidst climate change, makes it an ideal crop for cultivation. In the present study accessions of Kodo millet ((Paspalum scrobiculatum L) from twelve different geographical regions of India were evaluated for quantitative and qualitative traits to determine its growth conditions under varied climatic conditions. Methods: Total of 96 indigenous germplasm were collected across the country and were sown in a breeding farm to grow selectively healthy crops in a randomized block design manner during kharif 2012 and 2013. Observations of quantitative traits were recorded on five arbitrarily selected plants in each replication for different physiological traits. Results: The statistical data revealed significant differences among all the studied accessions. Mainly IC482729 and IC404789 from Tamil Nadu had high biomass, straw yield, and yield per plant. IC396004 from Chhattisgarh showed advantageous performance in earliness with medium plant height. Therefore, the present findings helped in identifying elite germplasm accessions and could be effectively used in the Kodo millet enhancement program.
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