Abstract

Ocimum spp, popularly known as Tulsi, has great commercial (food and perfumery industries) and medicinal importance due to antispasmodic, stomachicum, carminative, antimalarial and febrifuge properties. The aroma and flavor in Ocimum spp. is distinct due to the predominant aroma compound eugenol, camphor, citral etc. We used molecular techniques to assess the genetic variability and relatedness of 20 accessions of three germplasm of Ocimum spp. (Ocimum gratissimum, Ocimum sanctum and Ocimum basilicum) collected from different places of India. DNA was isolated by fixing a sample in alcohol without using liquid nitrogen. 20 accessions were analyzed through random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) profiling for similarity and genetic distance, using 18 primers. The binary (1/0) data was analyzed with REEPLOT to infer the genetic distance and to construct the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) based dendrogram. High degree of polymorphism (82.78%) was shown by RAPD markers. There was total 122 bands generated, 101 bands were polymorphic. Highest similarity was measured at approximately 0.97% and least was 0.46%. The present work showed interesting finding and proved to be a bidirectional evolution in Ocimum species. Therefore, RAPD markers can be used in the systematic study of wild plants and new crop. The present study would provide suitable keys for further studies.

Key words: Ocimum, Tulsi, genetic diversity, degree of divergence, R marker.