Molecular genetic fingerprints of nine Curcuma
species from Northeast India were developed using PCRbased
markers. The aim involves elucidating there intraand
inter-specific genetic diversity important for utilization,
management, and conservation. Twelve random amplified
polymorphic DNA (RAPD), 19 Inter simple sequence
repeats (ISSRs), and four amplified fragment length polymorphism
(AFLP) primers produced 266 polymorphic
fragments. ISSR confirmed maximum polymorphism of
98.55% whereas RAPD and AFLP showed 93.22 and
97.27%, respectively. Marker index and polymorphic
information content varied in the range of 8.64–48.1,
19.75–48.14, and 25–28 and 0.17–0.48, 0.19–0.48, and
0.25–0.29 for RAPD, ISSR, and AFLP markers, respectively.
The average value of number of observed alleles,
number of effective alleles, mean Nei’s gene diversity, and
Shannon’s information index were 1.93–1.98, 1.37–1.62,
0.23–0.36, and 0.38–0.50, respectively, for three DNA
markers used. Dendrograms based on three molecular data
using unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean
(UPGMA) was congruent and classified the Curcuma species
into two major clusters. Cophenetic correlation coefficient
between dendrogram and original similarity matrix
were significant for RAPD (r = 0.96), ISSR (r = 0.94),and AFLP (r = 0.97). Clustering was further supported by
principle coordinate analysis. High genetic polymorphism
documented is significant for conservation and further
improvement of Curcuma species.