The genetic diversity in Zanthoxylum species viz.  Zanthoxylum nitidum, Zanthoxylum oxyphyllum and Zanthoxylum rhesta collected from the Upper Brahmaputra Valley Zone of Assam (NE India) was amplified using 13 random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers and 9 inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers. RAPD markers were able to detect 81.82% polymorphism whereas ISSR detected 98.02% polymorphism. The genetic similarities were analyzed from the dendrogram constructed by RAPD and ISSR fingerprinting methods which divided the 3 species of Zanthoxylum into 3 clear different clusters. The principle component analysis (PCA) was carried out to confirm the clustering pattern of RAPD and ISSR analysis. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed the presence of significant variability between different Zanthoxylum species and within the species by both RAPD and ISSR markers. Z. nitidum was found to be sharing a high degree of variation with the other two Zanthoxylum species under study. The Nei's gene diversity (h), Shannon's information index (I), observed number of alleles (na) and effective number of alleles (ne) were also found to be higher in ISSR markers (0.3526, 0.5230, 1.9802 and 1.6145) than in RAPD markers (0.3144, 0.4610, 1.8182 and 1.5571). The values for total genotype diversity for among population (HT), within population diversity (Hs) and gene flow (Nm) were more in ISSR (0.3491, 0.2644 and 1.5610) than RAPD (0.3128, 0.2264 and 1.3087) but the mean coefficient of gene differentiation (GST) was more in RAPD (0.2764) than ISSR (0.2426). A comparison of this two finger printing methods was done by calculating MR, EMI and MI. The correlation coefficient between data matrices of RAPD and ISSR based on Mantel test was found to be significant (r = 0.65612).

Nepenthes khasiana Hook. f. belonging to monotypic family Nepenthaceae is a rare, endangered, dioecious member of the carnivorous plant found in North-East India. The plant is endemic to the Indian state of Meghalaya and is distributed throughout the state from West Khasi hills to East Khasi hills, Jaintia hills and East, West to South Garo hills from 1,000 to ca. 1,500 m altitude. Multi-locus analysis using PCR based Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and Inter Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR) markers were used for the first time to assess the genetic diversities of N. khasiana Hook. f. collected from different parts of Meghalaya. It was observed that RAPD analysis showed more polymorphism than ISSR fingerprinting in revealing genetic polymorphism in N. khasiana Hook. f. The result of cluster analysis by using UPGMA method showed that the groups based on pooled RAPD-ISSR genetic similarity were more similar than the groups based on RAPD. Furthermore, genetic similarity reveals variability within the population at Jarain of Jaintia hills, while between populations the Baghmara region differs from the others with at least 40% dissimilarity. The results show a broad range of genetic diversity within the populations of N. khasiana Hook. f.

The utility of RAPD markers in assessing genetic diversity and phenetic relationships in Persea bombycina, a major tree species for golden silk (muga) production, was investigated using 48 genotypes from northeast India. Thirteen RAPD primer combinations generated 93 bands. On average, seven RAPD fragments were amplified per reaction. In a UPGMA phenetic dendrogram based on Jaccard's coefficient, the P. bombycina accessions showed a high level of genetic variation, as indicated by genetic similarity. The grouping in the phenogram was highly consistent, as indicated by high values of cophenetic correlation and high bootstrap values at the key nodes. The accessions were scattered on a plot derived from principal correspondence analysis. The study concluded that the high level of genetic diversity in the P. bombycina accessions may be attributed to the species' outcrossing nature. This study may be useful in identifying diverse genetic stocks of P. bombycina, which may then be conserved on a priority basis.