ASSESSMENTS OF GENETIC DIVERSITY IN COUNTRY BEAN (Lablab purpureus L.) USING RAPD MARKER AGAINST PHOTO-INSENSITIVITY

RAPD marker was used to evaluate genetic relationships among 11 genotypes of country bean, including first three genotypes were photo-insensitive and the rests were sensitive. The genotypes were grouped into two major clusters where photo-insensitive genotypes remain in cluster I and sensitive genotypes remain in cluster II. A total of 26 bands were detected, of which 57.69% were polymorphic and the remaining were monomorphic across all genotypes. A highest level of genetic distance was observed between CB04 and CB06 while the lowest level of genetic distance showed between CB01 and CB03. The highest similarity index between the genotypes CB01 and CB03 indicated less divergence between them. Low similarity indices were observed between CB04 and CB06, which indicated more divergence. Crossing between the genotypes with low similarity coefficient will manifest high heterosis. The identified genetically distinct cultivars could be potentially important source of germplasm for further improvement of country bean.