Molecular marker based genetic diversity study of wild, cultivated and endangered species of Curcuma from Chhattisgarh region for in situ conservation

Curcuma is a well-known genus for its extensive medicinal properties derived from several chemical constituent. Curcumin is known as a wonder drug because of its pharmaceutical importance. Curcumin content could vary based on different species and its genetic makeup and environmental factors. So in the present study, was based on the investigation of gene expression of different species of Curcuma from Chhattisgarh region based on EST based molecular fingerprinting. Genetic fingerprints of Curcuma caesia, Curcuma longa and Curcuma aromatica were determined using 17 EST- SSR (Expressed sequence tag Simple Sequence Repeats) to elucidate the genetic diversity for their utilization, genotypic conservation and large scale production of curcumin derived from these species. The primer combinations were amplified 127 loci among which 102 were found to be polymorphic in nature and the rest were monomorphic, the polymorphism percent was 81%. These markers were used to estimate genetic similarity and distance between the Curcuma species. Various data scoring methods were to analyze the similarities and relationships between species of Curcuma. Data analysis revealed distinct genetic identity found between species of Curcuma at the genomic level. The present study provides a baseline data for optimization of conservation and breeding program of this medicinally important rhizome on the basis of their documented genetic diversity which would be an important step towards optimization of industrial level production of curcumin.