Unraveling the Genetic Diversity of Bitter Gourd (Momordica charantia L.) Using IRAP and REMAP Retrotransposon Markers

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran

2 Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute, University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran

3 Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Agriculture Institute, Research Institute of Zabol, Zabol, Iran

Abstract

The dispersion and abundance of mobile genetic elements in plant genomes have made them valuable molecular markers. Understanding genetic diversity is crucial for the organization and conservation of plant materials. This study aimed to investigate the genetic diversity of the economically and medicinally significant plant Momordica charantia L. (bitter gourd) using IRAP and REMAP markers. The identification of retrotransposon insertions was performed on seeds of 11 bitter gourd accessions collected from different regions. The results showed that most of the retrotransposons were active in the bitter gourd genome, and 71 polymorphic loci were generated using 6 IRAP primers, and 103 polymorphic loci were generated using 12 REMAP primers. The expected mean heterozygosity (He) was 0.24 for IRAP and 0.31 for REMAP. Cluster analysis based on REMAP and IRAP data, using the Dice similarity coefficient and the complete linkage algorithm, grouped the 11 genotypes into 5 major clusters. The genetic diversity obtained from the IRAP marker was 66% within populations and 34% between populations, while the REMAP marker showed 61% within populations and 39% between populations. The lowest genetic similarity was observed in the IRAP data between the Durga seeds from Hong Kong and the Kanarkee accession. In REMAP analysis, the least similarity occurred between the Long Green and Durga India baby accessions, as in REMAP-IRAP, it was noted between the Kanarkee and Durga Indian baby accessions. Based on these findings, it is recommended that the Kanarkee and Durga India baby accessions be utilized as parent lines in breeding programs.

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Main Subjects

References

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Journal of Medicinal plants and By-products
Volume 15, Issue 1
January and February 2026
Pages 20-26

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