Association of ISSR markers with some biochemical traits of Valeriana jatamansi Jones

Towards establishing association of ISSR markers with antioxidant activity in Valeriana jatamansi, 5 distantly located populations were analysed. Total phenolics, flavonoids contents and antioxidant activity measured by three different in vitro assays, revealed a significant variation (p < 0.01) across populations. The higher total phenolics (14.63 +/- 0.05 mg GAE/g dw), flavonoids (6.96 +/- 0.11 mg QE/g dw), tannin content (3.85 +/- 0.54 mg GAE/g dw) and antioxidant activity (ABTS - 4.82 +/- 0.18 mM AAE/100 mg; DPPH - 4.92 +/- 10.02 mM AAE/100 mg and FRAP - 7.54 +/- 0.02 mM AAE/100 mg) was observed in Kalika population. Information generated from 31 genotypes of the species using 13 ISSR markers showed a total of 97 fragments with high mean genetic diversity [percentage of polymorphic bands (PPB) - 69.90%, Shannon's information index (I) -0.39]. Out of 97 ISSR markers, only three (HB8-5, HB12-1 and 17898B-8) exhibited significant (p < 0.05) association with antioxidant activity measured by DPPH assay. Hence, it is recommended that any further selection of the genotypes/population using these markers can be useful for breeding programme that has associated with high antioxidant activity especially when no other genetic information such as linkage maps and Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) are available for the species. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.