The study was undertaken to assess the genetic diversity among aromatic rice genotypes using simple
sequence repeat (SSR) and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers through marker aided
selection (MAS). The research work was performed during July 2006 to April 2008 at Plant Breeding
Division, Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA), Mymensingh, Bangladesh. Three SSR
primers (RM223, RM342A and RM515) exhibited fourty six bands among the genotypes, while the average
number of effective allele ranged from 1.78 to 2.49. The marker RM223 showed the highest polymorphism
(66.67%). Out of 15 tested RAPD primers, 3 markers (OPA-02, OPA-10 and 67AB10G7) produced 34
distinct bands of which 32 were polymorphic. OPA02 and 67AB10G7 primers performed 100%
polymorphism. Based on Nei’s genetic distance using the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic
means (UPGMA) dendrogram the SSR primers showed the highest genetic distance which was 2.306 and in
case of RAPD marker it was 0.7634. Genotype pair (43-28-5-3-1 x 10-14-5-1-1) and (43-28-5-3-1 x 43-28-5-
2-1) were clustered in a separate cluster as they have diverse genetic background. Considering the genetic
distance values the genotypes was genetically different from each other which could be used in breeding
programme to have potential genetic gains. The results of the genetic diversity will be useful for the selection
of the parents for developing rice breeding variety.