Assessment of the genetic relationship of aromatic rice using SCoT molecular marker

Abstract

Thailand has significant genetic diversity in rice varieties, and aroma is a primary characteristic representing a high value-added trait. And alleles of the aroma gene are distributed in rice varieties, especially landrace varieties grown in all country regions. This research aimed to study the genetic diversity of 26 aromatic rice varieties using the Start Codon Targets (SCoT) molecular marker. Fourteen SCoT primers were used, and the phylogenetic tree was constructed using NTSYSpc 2.2 program. The results showed that the genetic relationship and cophenetic correlation (r) were 0.60-0.86 and 0.76, respectively. According to genotypic data, the dendrogram showing genetic relationships among 26 aromatic rice genotypes was classified into two major groups according to phenotypic data. This result indicated that the dendrogram might be reliable. The obtained data can be used to plan for future rice conservation and breeding programs.