Genetic relatedness among isolates of Aspergillus flavus from groundnut, maize and chilli in tamil nadu, India based on rapd analysis

A total of 12 isolates of Aspergillus flavus isolated from groundnut, maize and chilli collected from different locations of Tamil Nadu, India were tested for their molecular variability by Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique using 33 random primers. These oligonucleotide primers generated a total of 42 polymorphic bands. The number of bands generated by each primer varied from 5 to 9. The amplified products ranged from 250 bp to 2.5 kb, although majority of them were below 1.0 kb. Analysis of genetic co-efficient matrix derived from the scores of RAPD profiles showed that minimum and maximum percent similarity among the isolates of A. flavus were in the range of 52% to 97% respectively. Cluster analysis using UPGMA clearly separated the isolates into two main clusters (A and B) confirming the genetic diversity among the isolates of A. flavus. Cluster B consisted of one isolate (BSR5) and Cluster A consisted of the remaining 11 isolates.