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Population genetic structure of the clonal plant Zingiber zerumbet (L.) Smith (Zingiberaceae), a wild relative of cultivated ginger, and its response to Pythium aphanidermatum

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Abstract

Zingiber zerumbet (L) Smith, a wild clonal species related to the cultivated ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe), is a potential resistance donor for soft rot disease in ginger caused by Pythium aphanidermatum (Edson) Fitzp. In this study we evaluated the genetic diversity and P. aphanidermatum resistance of 74 Z. zerumbet accessions belonging to 15 populations from eight districts in Kerala state, India. The disease index (DI) of the accessions varied from 0% to 72.24% and the accessions could be separated into six frequency classes according to their DI values. More than 65% of the accessions had a DI < 20%. Eight accessions were found to be immune to the infection. The relative frequency of resistant accessions was higher in the central and northern regions of Kerala. Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis of Z. zerumbet accessions using five primer combinations yielded 215 bands in total, of which 175 (81.4%) were polymorphic. Nei’s genetic diversity (h) of 0.2738 and Shannon information index (I) of 0.4012 revealed a high genetic diversity in Z. zerumbet unexpected for a clonal species. In the UPGMA dendrogram, accessions were clustered mostly according to their geographical origin and no clear correspondence was observed between the clustering pattern of accessions and their responses to Pythium aphanidermatum. The study revealed high genetic diversity and variability for pathogen resistance among Z. zerumbet accessions and confirmed the value of Z. zerumbet as a potential donor for soft rot resistance for the genetic improvement of ginger.

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Acknowledgements

KPG gratefully acknowledges the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Government of India for the research fellowship (File No. 9/716(024)/2KI/EMR-I) and GT acknowledges the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India for financial support (Grant No. BT/PR2211/Agr/08/162/2001).

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  1. Plant Molecular Biology, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram, 695 014, Kerala, India

    P. G. Kavitha & G. Thomas

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  1. P. G. Kavitha
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  2. G. Thomas
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Correspondence to G. Thomas.

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Kavitha, P.G., Thomas, G. Population genetic structure of the clonal plant Zingiber zerumbet (L.) Smith (Zingiberaceae), a wild relative of cultivated ginger, and its response to Pythium aphanidermatum . Euphytica 160, 89–100 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-007-9557-5

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