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Phytomorphology 71 (3&4) 2021, 91-100 91
Genetic Variability in the Medicinal Plant Hellenia speciosa (J. Koenig) S.R. Dutta (Costaceae)
I. Manju Baby1, K.K. Sabu2* and P.J. Mathew1
1Plant Genetic Resource Division, Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, Palode, Thiruvananthapuram-695562
2Biotechnology and Bioinformatics Division, Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, Palode, Thiruvananthapuram-695562
ABSTRACT
Hellenia speciosa (J. Koenig) S.R. Dutta is an important medicinal plant used to cure different diseases. It has, antifungal, anticholineesterase, antioxidant, antihyperglycemic, antiinflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic, antidiuretic, larvicidal, antistress and estrogenic activities. It is also used for ornamental purposes. It is a source of diosgenin (a precursor of contraceptive drugs). The species exhibits enormous phenotypic variations. Here, genetic diversity studies have been carried out in 25 accessions of H. speciosa, through ISSR analysis using 16 primers. These accessions clustered into seven major groups with respect to their genetic similarity. Estimation of genetic parameters of heterozygosity such as number of alleles per locus (Na), number of effective alleles (Ne), Heterozygosity (H) and Shannon’s Information Index (I) revealed that the 25 accessions vary genetically. The study revealed that the gene pool of H. speciosa is highly diverse, with 63.11% of the alleles showing polymorphism. This finding suggests that the enormous phenotypic variations exhibited by the species may have a genetic basis. The intraspecific variation available in H. speciosa, as revealed through the study, would be useful for conservation, cultivation and genetic improvement of the species and its effective utilization in pharmaceutical industry.
Key words: Costus speciosus, Genetic diversity, Hellenia speciosa, Heterozygosity, ISSR, Polymorphism
*Author for correspondence: K.K. Sabu; e-mail: sabu@jntbgri.res.in
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