Department of Biotechnology, Kumaun University, Nainital, Uttarakhand- 26300, India
It is very difficult to distinguish among the species of ectomycorrhizal genus on the basis of phenotypic characters. Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technology is rapid and sensitive technique used to estimate relationship between closely and more distantly related species of various genus of ectomycorrhiza. Eight RAPD markers were used to analyze diversity of selected seven genotypes of Russula collected from North eastern zone of India. Phylogenetic analysis clustered seven genotypes in to two major groups. Group 1 composed of genotypes 5 and 6 found to share homology. Group 2 is composed of five genotypes: 1,2,3,4 and 7. Of these genotypes 1, 2 and 3 share near homology and genotype 4 was found to be more similar to this sub group. Genotype 7 was found to be separated from all five and Genotype 6 was found to be distantly related to genotype 1, 2 and 3. As species of Russula genus are known to have various antimicrobial and antioxidant activities so it is important to identify the species of this genus. These results may serve as reference information for researchers.
Key words: Ectomycorrhiza; Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA; Russula