Population structure and genetic diversity analysis of Indian and exotic rice (Oryza sativa L.) accessions using SSR markers.

In order to understand the population structure and genetic diversity among a set of 82 rice genotypes collected from different parts of the Asian countries including India were characterized using 39 microsatellite loci. The Population structure analysis suggested that the optimum number of subpopulations was four (K = 4) among the rice genotypes, whereas phylogenetic analysis grouped them into three populations. The results obtained from phylogenetic and STRUCTURE analysis proved to be very powerful for the differentiation of rice genotypes based on their place of origin.