Estimation of genetic diversity and evaluation of relatedness through molecular markers among medicinally important trees: Terminalia arjuna, T. chebula and T. bellerica.

Terminalia trees are being over-exploited because of their medicinal and economical importance leading to loss of valuable genetic resources. For sustainable utilization and conservation, assessment of genetic diversity therefore becomes imperative. We report a comprehensive first study on estimation and analysis of genetic variation through Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), inter simple sequence repeat polymorphism (ISSR) and random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) across three species of Terminalia. The study included (i) characterization of genetic diversity at interspecific level, and (ii) comparison of efficiency of the marker systems. That the three species are genetically distinct was revealed by all the three marker systems as unique DNA fingerprints were obtained. This led to identification of several species-specific amplification products. Further analysis helped in species-wise clustering. The species specific bands obtained from the present investigation can be used as diagnostic markers to identify the raw materials for herbal drug preparations for authentication purposes.