Genetic Diversity and Population Structure in Upland Rice (Oryza sativa L.) of Mizoram, North East India as Revealed by Morphological, Biochemical and Molecular Markers.

Upland rice landraces from different villages of Mizoram, Northeast India were analyzed for seed morphology, amylose content, aromatic characteristic, seed storage protein profiling and genetic diversity. Results revealed variation in grain length, width, weight and shape. Protein profiling showed polypeptide bands ranging from 7 to 10 with similarity coefficient from 0.556 to 1.000 in the studied populations. Population genetic analysis using simple sequence repeats markers revealed a total of 63 alleles with a high level of gene diversity at 0.6468. High values of Fst and PIC estimates were found at 0.7239 and 0.5984 respectively. The Biruchuk population was found to be the most genetically diverse cultivar and least gene diversity was found in Tuikuk buh. The UPGMA trees based on seed morphology, seed storage protein profiling and simple sequence repeats diversity showed the grouping of rice cultivars into three clusters which were further supported by model-based STRUCTURE analysis. This finding is the first-hand report in upland rice of the state and can be useful for selecting suitable rice lines for prebreeding and germplasm conservation of indigenous hill rice cultivars of Mizoram.