Diversity assessment of selected genotypes of Melia dubia cav. from East Siang region of Arunachal Pradesh

Melia dubia Cav. of the family Meliaceae is a highly valued multipurpose tree species that has a short rotation period and can be harvested for various industrial and domestic wood requirements. However, the availability of genetically improved planting stock is almost non-existent, especially in North East India, and formulating management and conservation strategies are highly in need as it was observed during the survey that the number of Melia trees was very less and the majority of it was found fragmented in home-gardens. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the genetic variation of 34 samples selected from East Siang District, Arunachal Pradesh using 15 SSR markers. In the present study, 5 out of 15 SSR primers were found to be polymorphic. The effective number of alleles (Ne = 1.88), Nei’s gene diversity (h = 0.47), polymorphism information content (PIC = 0.48) and Shannon’s index (I = 0.66). It is affirmed by the UPGMA dendrogram and the pair-wise genetic dissimilarity that there is no association between the genetic and geographic distance of the genotypes. Understanding the genetic variability of M. dubia will help to identify superior seed sources for improvement programs.