Abstract
Six parent and their 12 gamma ray-induced somatic flower colour mutants of garden rose were characterized to discriminate the mutants from their respective parents and understanding the genetic diversity using Random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Out of 20 primers screened, 14 primers yielded completely identical fragments patterns. The other 7 primers gave highly polymorphic banding patterns among the radiomutants. All the cultivars were identified by using only 7 primers. Moreover, individual mutants were also distinguished by unique RAPD marker bands. Based on the presence or absence of the 48 polymorphic bands, the genetic variations within and among the 18 cultivars were measured. Genetic distance between all 18 cultivars varied from 0.40 to 0.91, as revealed by Jaccard's coefficient matrix. A dendrogram was constructed based on the similarity matrix using the Neighbor Joining Tree method showed three main clusters. The present RAPD analysis can be used not only for estimating genetic diversity present in gamma ray-induced mutants but also for correct identification of mutant/new varieties for their legal protection under plant variety rights.