Comparative analysis of different dna extraction protocols and genetic diversity studies in a medicinal plant cassia obtusa (roxb.) wight & arn. of eastern ghats, Tamil Nadu

Cassia obtusa is locally known as “Nilaavakai”. It is an herbaceous plant belongs to family Leguminosae and Sub family Caesalpinioideae. The plant was collected from 5 different places through recurrent survey. Three DNA extraction protocols were compared for their ability to produce good quality DNA from the frozen leaves of Cassia obtusa. RAPD-PCR analysis involving 10 decamer random primers were used to assess the quantum of genetic variation at genomic level. Out of the ten primers, OPA 13 showed amplification among all the 5 accessions and OPA7 and OPA9 were specific to COB4. OPA12 was specific to COB1 and COB2. By OPA13 morphological identity and great deal of polymorphism was observed among the accessions. Despite of morphological identity, a great deal of genetic variations was observed among the accessions. UPGMA analysis showed ~44% variation in the collections, the results demonstrated the ability of RAPD markers to reliably differentiate between the ecotypes.