Evaluation of the Genetic Diversity and Population Structure in Drumstick (Moringa oleifera L.) Using SSR Markers

Moringa belongs to the family Moringaceae comprising 13 species of which Moringa oleifera is more widely cultivated. It is an economically important multipurpose tree with immense nutritional value and has significant potential to address malnutrition. In the present study, a total of 97 accessions collected from different districts of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha were genotyped using 20 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers to assess the genetic diversity and population structure. A total of 140 alleles were detected with the polymorphic information content value of 0.6832 and gene diversity 0.7292. Population structure analysis through a model- based approach divided the accessions into two subgroups. Molecular variance analysis using principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) summarized a 18.32% variation in the first 3 axes and analysis of molecular variance analysis indicates a 2% variance among the population with the remaining 98% variance attributed to variation within individuals. Cluster analysis based on unweighted neighbour-joining showed a clear separation of samples into two subgroups. Further comparison of the cluster subgroup showed high consistency with the STRUCTURE pattern and PCoA plot. The findings reveal a high diversity in the analysed genotypes from which a few distinct accessions could be utilized for further exploration based on their nutritional content and for conservation of nutritionally superior germplasm.