EVALUATION OF GENETIC DIVERSITY IN DIFFERENT GENOTYPES OF ERUCA SATIVA FROM PAKISTAN BY SDS-PAGE ANALYSIS

The Eruca sativa (Taramira) germplasm, comprising 102 accessions was evaluated for total seed storage proteins via sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The accessions were collected from different ecological areas of Pakistan. Total seed storage proteins were electrophoretically separated on 12.5 to 15.0% polyacrylamide gels. A total of 17 protein bands were detected, of which 6 (35%) were monomorphic and 11 (65%) were polymorphic, with molecular weight extending from 15 to 220 kDa. Dice coefficients among accessions ranged from 0.60 to 1.00. The dendrogram based on dissimilarity matrix using unweighted pair group method with arithmetic averages (UPGMA) divided all the accessions into 4 main groups i.e., 1, 2, 3 and 4 comprising 2, 15, 2 and 83 genotypes, respectively. Although a low level of genetic diversity was observed among given germplasm but the presence/absence and different protein banding pattern showed a considerable level of variability among different Taramira accessions. The variations revealed in this study should be exploited for the future breeding potential of Taramira germplasm by using other advanced molecular techniques including 2-D gel electrophoresis. No studies have yet been conducted in Pakistan on the genetic assessment of Eruca sativa germplasm based on total seed protein. This evaluation will significantly help for identification and differentiation of Taramira germplasm and for best utilization in Taramira varietal improvement program in Pakistan.