Genetic Diversity Assessment and Biological Description of Caster bean crop (Riciunus communis L.)

Abstract

Castor bean is an important nonedible oilseed crop that has many industrial uses. Genetic diversity in a germplasm is the fundamental requirement for crop improvement programs. There are several genetic markers available for assessment of genetic diversity among the genotypes and accessions. Though castor bean is a monotypic, it exhibits wide phenotypic diversity. In castor bean, genetic markers such as agro-morphological characters, biochemical and cytological markers were widely used in characterization of genetic variation in the germplasm from India, Nigeria, Turkey, China, Brazil, Iran, and Ethiopia which indicated a low-to-high-level diversity in the castor bean germplasm depending on the markers and the genotypes studied.