The genetic assessment of 90 germplasm lines and six varieties of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) were done with 13 morphological traits and 125 Simple Sequence Repeats markers. Out of 125 molecular markers, 26 were polymorphic and produced 105 alleles. The genetic diversity was found to be 52-83 per cent and Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) was 0.46-0.81 with a mean of 0.42 indicating higher magnitude of genetic diversity in the test genotypes. Analysis of molecular variance showed variation among and within individuals based on allelic variation. Principal Co-ordinate Analysis based on origin of the genotypes formed three major population groups and the genetic analysis determined by population structure divided all the germplasm lines in to 10 populations. Significant and positive correlation was observed between hundred kernel weight and hundred pod weight (r=0.769) and kernel yield (r=0.899); sound mature kernel and pod weight with kernel yield, weight of kernels and harvest index. Genotypes from distinct clusters may be selected in hybridization programme for groundnut improvement. The information on clustering of genotypes will be helpful in identification of novel and superior germplasm for hybridization and development of improved varieties.

Background: Resistance to foliar fungal diseases along with oleic acid trait, are important objectives of groundnut breeding. Among foliar fungal diseases, rust and Late Leaf Spot (LLS) cause significant economic loss and high oleic trait is preferred in industry that enhances economic values of crop. Methods: Morphological characterization of the 186-groundnut germplasm lines/genotypes for ten yield attributing traits and their significance of correlation was analyzed using SPSS ver. 19 software at 1% and 5% probability level of significance. Screening for LLS and rust diseases was done employing 10X SNP assay at ICRISAT, Hyderabad, India. Selected superior groundnut germplasm line(s) were screened for presence of FAD2B allele responsible for high oleic acid traits using allele specific marker. Result: Significant and positive correlation was found between dry weight and hundred pod weight (r=0.0.801) and harvest index (r=0.0.830). Molecular characterization along with morphological characterization identified highly diversified lines of groundnut. This study reports 78 foliar fungal disease resistant groundnut germplasm lines. Selected 11 groundnut germplasm lines represented resistance against LLS and rust diseases along with FAD2B allele for oleic acid trait.

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