RESEARCH ARTICLE

GENETIC RELATIONSHIP OF SRI LANKAN Exacum trinervium COMPLEX BASED ON RANDOM AMPLIFIED POLYMORPHIC DNA TECHNIQUE

Abstract

Exacum trinervium (Gentianaceae) in Sri Lanka received a lot of attention in recent years because of its endemism, national conservation status and medicinal & ornamental values. Therefore several groups of scientists in Sri Lanka have attempted to introduce E. trinervium as an ornamental plant through ex-situ cultivation. However, the production of superior quality horticultural products of E. trinervium through conventional breeding programs has become a challenge due to several factors and the uncertainty in identifying the closely related members of the E. trinervium complex was one of them. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the genetic variability of some Sri Lankan taxa in the E. trinervium complex using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) marker to clarify their taxonomic uncertainties. Five randomly selected individuals from each of three selected taxonomic units i.e. Exacum trinervium ssp. trinervium, ssp. ritigalensis and ssp. pallidum, were subjected for the genetic relationship investigation. The results obtained indicate similar banding patterns for ssp. trinervium and ssp. ritigalensis. However, the banding pattern of ssp. pallidum was different from ssp. trinervium and ssp. ritigalensis. Based on RAPD results, it can be suggested that there is no genetic variability between ssp. trinervium and ssp. ritigalensis while ssp. ritigalensis has to be merged into ssp. trinervium. Moreover, ssp. pallidum is evolutionary distant from the other two. The result of study indicate that taxonomic discrepancies in the E. trinervum complex can be resolved by molecular studies and hence it is suggested to be repeated the same study with all the closely related members of the E. trinervium complex in Sri Lanka, in order to resolve the taxonomic discrepancy within the complex.

Keywords: Exacum trinervium complex, genetic variability, RAPD, Sri Lanka

How to Cite: Dissanayake,N.P,Kodikara,K.A.S,Vithanage,D.S,Krishnarajah,S.A, Rubasinghe,M. K, Jayatissa,L.P, Dayananda,T.G, (2015). GENETIC RELATIONSHIP OF SRI LANKAN Exacum trinervium COMPLEX BASED ON RANDOM AMPLIFIED POLYMORPHIC DNA TECHNIQUE.WILDLANKA, 3(3):Pages 133-138

Published On:2015-10-31

Download