Biochemical and Molecular Characterization of Bamboo Variants

Classical taxonomic studies of the bamboos are based on floral morphology and growth habit, which can cause problems in identification due to erratic flowering. Identification and genetic relationships in 18 species of bamboo were investigated using SDS-PAGE and RAPD analysis. Protein profiles of 18 bamboo species revealed clear polymorphism which can be used to identify species. Dendrogram based on SDS-PAGE data separated 18 species into two major clusters with Bambusa nutans & B. polymorpha, Gigantochloa andamanica & Dendrocalamus longispathus, G. andamanica & D. gigangteus showed maximum similarity of 71.4% in each case while genotype B. tulda and B. nutans (10.4%) showed lowest similarity. On the other hand, RAPD analysis proved to be a better tool with 14.67 as an average number of bands per polymorphic primers. Dendrogram based on RAPD separated 18 species into 2 major clusters with D. membranaceous and B.multiplex showed maximum similarity of 83% while genotype D. asper and B. balcooa showed least similarity (10.6%).