Abstract

Genetic relationships were examined among 19 accessions belonging to twoSenna species by using RAPD markers. Within 60 tested primers, 9 primers only produced clear banding patterns that have been expected. An initial test of 60 primers, gave only 9 with consistently clear banding patterns. These 9 primers generated 108 scorable amplified products, of which 72 were polymorphic (66.6%). This degree of polymorphism is relatively low. An average of 12 bands was obtained per primer, ranging in size from 150 to 3530 bp. A UPGMA cluster analysis of genetic similarity indices grouped all the accessions into two major clusters corresponding to the pre-existing, species-level classification. Our result showed that RAPD technique is a sensitive, precise and efficient tool for genomic analysis in genetical discrimination of Senna species that may be useful in future studies by assigning new, unclassified germplasm accessions to specific taxonomic groups and reclassifying incorrectly classified accessions of otherSenna species. 

Key words: Molecular taxonomy, Senna tora L. and Senna obtusifolia L. RAPD.