Abstract

ASSESSMENT OF GENETIC DIVERSITY OF VIOLA SERPENS WALL. IN HIMACHAL PRADESH USING MOLECULAR MARKERS

Pankaj Kumar*, Digvijay

Abstract

Viola serpens Wall. commonly known as “Banakasha” belongs to family Violaceae. It is one of the most useful medicinal plants and used as antipyretic, demulcent, diaphoretic and diuretic drug. It is useful in asthma, bleeding piles, cancer of throat, constipation, cough, fever, skin diseases and headache. In the present investigation an attempt has been made to assess the genetic diversity of Viola serpens Wall. using morphological and isozymic markers. Ten qualitative and seven quantitative characters have been studied but only quantitative morphological descriptors showed significant variation. The isozyme analysis was conducted for nine enzyme system and all of them showed significant activity producing typical banding patterns.The two enzymes systems i.e. Alkaline phosphatase and Acid phosphatase were found to be monomorphic in nature. Allele frequency in present study ranged from 0.5-1.0. Polymorphism in the selected thirty genotypes of Viola serpens was found to be 26.67 per cent.

Keywords: Viola serpens, Isozyme, Allele, Polymorphism