January 2013
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879 Reads
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18 Citations
World Applied Sciences Journal
Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) is an annual spice herb that belongs to Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) family with widely diversified uses. Genetic variability, essential oil composition and ISSR molecular markers for seven characters in ten selected genotypes within three coriander cultivars were studied. Field experiment was laid out in a randomized complete blocks design with three replications. The analysis of variance revealed that there were highly significant (p<0.01) differences among and within coriander cultivars for all the characters, except total number of branches which showed significant (p<0.05) among the genotypes. Heritability and genetic advance were high for fruit yield, linear growth and plant height in selected followed by Russian and Balady cultivars. Essential oil obtained by hydro-distillation was characterized by gas liquid chromatography (GLC) indicated that, ten different compounds were identified in essential oil of all varieties. Linalool, Nerol, Bornel, Gereniol and -Terpinene were identified as main components in the oil of all cultivars. Linalool was identified as the main compound and the maximum value in Russian (69.50) followed by Selected (65.48) and Balady (62.53) cultivars, respectively. ISSR results with five primers revealed 26 amplified fragments, 12 of them were polymorphic (46%). The similarity indices and dendrogram for the genetic distances of ISSR marker revealed that the highest similarity was (71%) between the Russian and Selected cultivars. Meanwhile, the lowest (58%). Similarity index was between the Balady and Russian cultivars. These results can be used in further genetic diversity studies for genotypes identification and characterization which can be helpful in breeding programmes for crop improvement.