Polymorphic SSR marker identification for water use efficiency in groundnut (Arachis hypogea L.) parental lines

Abstract

Groundnut is world important oilseed crop; productivity is low in the semi-arid regions due to frequent occurrence of drought. Identification of genotypes that have a greater ability to use limited available water is important to enhance productivity of the crop. Water Use Efficiency (WUE) is one such important trait, which increases yield under drought situation. Low level of DNA polymorphism has been detected in most of the laboratories due to allotetraploid nature. In the present study two parental lines of Recombinant Inbred line population NRCG12568 and NRCG12326 diverse for WUE related trait, such as Carbon Isotopic Discrimination (D13C), Specific Leaf Area (SLA) and SPAD chlorophyll meter reading were studied for polymorphism using 350 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Out of these, only 119 (34%) markers showed polymorphism in NRCG12568 and NRCG12326. Detection of polymorphism opens up the possibility of use of these markers for QTL map development for D13C in groundnut.