Detection and characterization of polymorphic simple sequence repeats markers for the analysis of genetic diversity in Indian mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek]

Mungbean is a widely cultivated grain legume in Asia, Africa and South America. In this study, 52 varieties of mungbean were profiled with 39 polymorphic SSR primers after screening a total 315 SSR primers. A total of 96 alleles were scored from the 39 primers with an average of 2.46 alleles per locus indicating the low diversity among varieties. The Nei's genetic diversity index and the Shannon information index of SSR primers varied from 0 to 0.649 and 0 to 1.169, respectively. The results showed that the potential transferability of adzuki bean primers (83.3%) was greater than the cowpea primers (25%). The varieties profiled were grouped into four major clusters. But the clustering pattern did not reflect on their geographical origin. Further, the AMOVA indicated presence of moderate genetic differentiation among groups compared to higher differentiation among varieties within populations. The SSR markers identified here will add valuable genomic resources for germplasm characterization, cultivar identification and assessment of genetic diversity of mungbean varieties.