Lack of genetic diversity of a critically endangered important medicinal plant Chlorophytum borivilianum in Central India revealed by AFLP markers.

Chlorophytum borivilianum is a traditional medicinal plant distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics. In the present investigation, AFLP analysis was used to assess the genetic similarity among 34 accessions. Nine primer sets of AFLP amplified 612 fragments, of which 246 fragments were found to be polymorphic. The average number of polymorphic bands per AFLP primer pair was 27.33. The amplified fragments ranged from 50 base pairs to 600 base pairs. Significant correlation was observed between total number of amplified fragments and polymorphic bands (p > 0.05) per primers. Cluster analysis based on AFLP data revealed limited genetic variation within the thirty four accessions collected from various parts of Central Indian forests.