Molecular diversity evaluation in pearl millet parental genotypes using simple sequence repeats

The genetic diversity of of fourteen pearl millet genotypes was investigated using 50 SSR markers. Polymorphism was found in 25 of the 50 markers analyzed. The highest PIC value among these 25 polymorphic SSR markers was reported in SSR marker xpsmp 2251, which was 0.6704. The PIC varied from 0.1239 (3035) to 0.6704 (xpsmp 2251). The power marker UPGMA cluster analysis grouped 14 pearl millet parental genotypes into two major clusters with a 67.5% similarity score. The first cluster has ten parental genotypes: EMRL-14/123, EMRL-14/237, EMRL-14/243, HMS 53 A4, HMS 54 A5, AC 04/13, H77/833-2-202, EMRL-14/111, HMS 30Aegp, EMRL-14/105, while the second cluster contains four parental lines: HMS 58 A1, EMRL-14/103, EMRL-14/127, and EMRL-15/109.