Simarouba is commonly known as paradise tree, dysentery bark. The leaves and bark have amoebicide, antidiarrheal, analgesic, antibacterial, antileukemic, antimalarial properties [2]. Wood is used

to make furniture [9]. Simarouba glauca is a tree born oilseed crop. The seeds of Simarouba are economically very important since they contain 65–75% of oil. Simarouba is polygamodioecious with three types of plants pistillate (female flowers), staminate (male flowers) and andromonoecious (male dominated bisexual flowers) [12]. The waiting time from sowing to flowering is long. Usually it flowers after 5–7 years of planting hence growers need to ensure the seedling’s sex for good harvest. The determination of the sex of Simarouba seedling prior to the flowering stage would avoid the need for removing undesired sex (male) plants from the field. Only 5% male learn more or andromonoecious plants in a field are sufficient for efficient pollination. Identification of sex types prior to propagation, especially in polygamodioecious plant species with a long juvenile cycle such as Simarouba, would result in higher fruit production and increased profitability. There is no method available to distinguish male, female, and hermaphrodite plants in pre-flowering stage in Simarouba. Molecular markers could be utilized to diagnose sex-linked DNA

markers. RAPD markers have shown their reliability for determining sex in Pistacia vera [11], Atriplex garrettii [5], Trichosanthes diocia [22], Salix viminalis [3], Piper longum [16], GSK J4 cell line Borassus

flabellifer [8], Simmondsia chinensis [1], Carica papaya, and Cycas circinalis [7], Commiphora wightii [21]. The aim of present study is to indentify RAPD markers associated with sex determination in Simarouba. Fresh leaf sample each of two accessions of both female and hermaphrodite were collected from University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore (UASB) and a male from University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad (UASD), India. The samples until were stored at −80 °C until use. Leaf samples were collected from male, female and hermaphrodite plants after complete observation of flower types and these were used for DNA extraction. Total genomic DNA was isolated from leaf tissues from five accessions (one male, two female and two hermaphrodites) with the minor modifications in CTAB method [20]. About 0.3 g of leaf tissue was ground to a fine powder in liquid nitrogen and mixed with 700 μl of CTAB (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) extraction buffer (100 mM Tris–HCl pH 8, 1.4 M NaCl, 20 mM EDTA (pH 8), 2% CTAB, 1% β-mercaptoethanol, 1% PVP). The mixture was first incubated at 65 °C for 30 minutes, and then an equal volume of a phenol:chloroform:isoamylalcohol (25:24:1) mixture was added, followed by centrifugation at 4000 rpm for 30 minutes at 4 °C. The aqueous phase was decanted and transferred to a new micro tube to reduce impurity between the two phases.