Rajesh, M.K.Nagarajan, P.Jerard, B.A.Arunachalam, V.Dhanapal, R.2014-07-052014-07-052008CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 94, NO. 12, 25 JUNE 2008 p1627-1631http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/3688The extent of genetic diversity in 26 coconut accessions from the Andaman and Nicobar (A&N) Islands was determined using 14 microsatellite markers. A total of 103 alleles were detected by the microsatellite markers with an average of 7.35 alleles per locus. The average observed and expected heterozygosity was 0.29 and 0.66 respectively. A mean fixation index (FST) of 0.49 was observed, indicating a high level of population differentiation among the coconut accessions. Heterozygosity was highest in tall coconut accessions. Majority of rare alleles were observed in tall accessions from the Nicobar Islands. The UPGMA dendrogram revealed clustering of majority of tall and dwarf accessions separately. This study using microsatellites confirms the rich genetic diversity of coconut accessions from A&N Islands.enAllelescoconut accessionsgenetic diversitymicrosatellite lociArticle