Abstract

Rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) is the major economic crop of Thailand. For plant breeding, germplasm source is important, however, the germplasm source should be evaluated for genetic diversity before using for crop improvement. Chanthaburi Province is an old planting area of rubber tree for the early introduced clones of Thailand. The early introduced clones were planted by seeds. The objective of this study was to evaluate genetic diversity in early introduced clones of rubber trees at Chanthaburi province using SSR marker. The 42 early introduced clone seedlings from seeds collected from four locations in Chanthaburi province, and seedlings from seeds collected from RRIM 600 and RRIT 251 plots were evaluated using SSR marker. The results showed that percentages of molecular variance within populations and among populations were 84% and 16%, respectively, and the seedlings can be classified into four groups.