SPAR Markers-Assisted Assessment of Genetic Diversity and Population Structure in Finger Millet (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Eleusine Coracana</Emphasis> (L.) Gaertn) Mini-Core Collection

Finger millet is an important staple food crop of semi-arid tropics also known as “super cereal” and has a higher calcium content than any other crops. Thousands of germplasm are being maintained and its genetic characterization is essential for further utilization in crop improvement. This research was performed to estimate the diversity and population genetic structure in the mini-core collection of finger millet by using SPAR markers, namely RAPD, ISSR, and DAMD markers. Altogether, 32 primers were used in this study, which produced 408 bands among which 344 were polymorphic. Analysis by combining all three marker systems revealed 84.31% of polymorphism among 90 genotypes of finger millet. Average polymorphism information content (PIC) produced by the ISSR, RAPD, and DAMD markers were 0.79, 0.81, 0.62, and average Rp values were 12.84, 8.17, and 8.53, respectively. The Jaccard's similarity value ranged from 0.233-0.861. IE 6059 and IE 5870 genotypes showed the highest Jaccard's similarity value of 0.861 in UPGMA analysis. Neighbor joining-based phylogenetic analysis produced two major clusters and the genotypes were grouped based on their geographical region of origin. Principal component analysis and principal coordinates analysis also confirmed the results. In population STRUCTURE analysis, the genotypes were divided into two subpopulations (P1and P2). These results confirmed that the genotypes we have assessed were genetically diverse and were clustered based on their geographic region of origin. The information obtained from this study will be useful in population management strategies and selection of genotypes for an effective breeding program in the future.