Assessment of polymorphism using RAPD in the generalized hemiparasitic plant Helicanthes elasticus (Desv.)Danser collected from six different hosts
RAPD analysis was carried out to determine genetic diversity that occurred among the selected accessions of H.elasticus obtained from six different hosts. All together 10 random primers were used for the RAPD assay, of which primer S11 produced 12 amplified bands in which 10 are polymorphic. Primer S9 produced the least number of amplified fragments. 10 primers together resulted in 88 amplified fragments, of which 26 are found to be polymorphic. Considerable polymorphism was shown by 3 primers that can be represented in a descending order S11>S79>S10. Accessions of H.elasticus obtained from Anacardium occidentale and Citrus maxima produced more polymorphic bands with S11. The overall polymorphism obtained in the selected samples of this hemiparasite was 29.54 indicating that genetic similarity was more among these samples rather than genetic diversity.