Abstract:
Finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.), an annual allotetraploid cereal, is widely cultivated in the arid
and semiarid regions of the world. Characterization of conserved germplasms of the crop is of primary
importance for the effective use of genetic resources and refines conservation strategies. Currently
there are more than 200 finger millet germplasm accessions conserved at Plant Genetic Resource
Centre (PGRC) Gannoruwa. Objective of this research was to characterize some of these accessions
using morphological markers. Twenty four finger millet accessions were randomly selected from the
available germplasm accessions at the PGRC as an initial attempt to understand the genetic structure
of the crop. These 24 accessions comprised two recommended varieties of Sri Lanka, two varieties
from Zimbabwe, two introduced varieties from India and eighteen accessions collected from different
geographical areas of Sri Lanka. These 24 accessions were characterized using 31 morphological
markers. Genetic distance among accessions ranged from 0.03 to 0.97 with an average 0.35.
Dendrogram constructed based on those distances to , assess the genetic relatedness of these
accessions, clustered all accessions into two major groups. The first comprised 19 accessions with an
average genetic distance 0.3 and the second comprised 5 accessions with an average genetic distance
0.5. The two recommended varieties in Sri Lanka grouped within two major groups separately
exhibiting their genetic distances. The two introduced accessions from India also clustered within two
major clustered and introduced accessions from Zimbabwe grouped within the same second major
cluster. This study highlights the importance of characterization of available germplasm accessions
for the improvement of the crop.
