GENETIC-VARIATION VIS-A-VIS MOLECULAR POLYMORPHISM IN GROUNDNUT, ARACHIS-HYPOGAEA L - POLYMORPHISM IN GROUNDNUT

Recent studies on the genus Arachis using molecular markers have revea led very little demonstrable polymorphism in the cultivated groundnut, A. hypogaea. This has led to the hasty generalization that the ground nut lacks genetic variation. However, this is in complete contradictio n to the results of other lines of investigations into the origin and evolution of A. hypogaea. Further, a characterization of the world col lection for various traits also shows significant levels of variation for almost all genetic traits. The literature review in this article s uggests that the lack of genetic variation was inferred because of an inadequacy in the material studied, and the range of techniques used t o study molecular polymorphism A comprehensive and rigorous examinatio n of the material available in the groundnut world collection, either by improving current techniques, or by using such advanced techniques as SSRs and AFLP could well reveal polymorphism at the molecular level .