Rice is the main staple food crop in Nepal. Fine and aromatic rice varieties have
significant commercial value. Allozyine electrophoresis has been a reliable technique in
estimating the genetic variation in crops. We surveyed isozyme variation of 24 fine and ·
aromatic rice_ genotypes collected from Nepal including Jetho budho land race as a
check. Five enzyme system5-were analyzed for allozyme variability that detected distinct
10 isozyme loci and 15 alleles including null alleles. The polymorphic enzyme systems:
esterase revealed 8 phenotypes following 6- phosphoglutanate dehydrogenase and
peroxidase each with 3 phenotypes an_d alcohol dehydrogenase and asparate
aminotransferase each with 2 phenotypes based on the combination of presence and
absence of alleles. T}J,e results indicated diversity within and between population of test
genotypes. Dendrogram did not indicate any clear pattern of divisions of these
populations into definite clusters. However 3 groups were detected at 84% . of
dissimilarity among 24 populations. Nepalese varieties Rato Basmati, Pahenle and
Jetho Budho grouped in a separate cluster in the dendrogram.

Rice is the main staple food crop in Nepal. Fine and aromatic rice varieties have
significant commercial value. Allozyine electrophoresis has been a reliable technique in
estimating the genetic variation in crops. We surveyed isozyme variation of 24 fine and ·
aromatic rice_ genotypes collected from Nepal including Jetho budho land race as a
check. Five enzyme system5-were analyzed for allozyme variability that detected distinct
10 isozyme loci and 15 alleles including null alleles. The polymorphic enzyme systems:
esterase revealed 8 phenotypes following 6- phosphoglutanate dehydrogenase and
peroxidase each with 3 phenotypes an_d alcohol dehydrogenase and asparate
aminotransferase each with 2 phenotypes based on the combination of presence and
absence of alleles. T}J,e results indicated diversity within and between population of test
genotypes. Dendrogram did not indicate any clear pattern of divisions of these
populations into definite clusters. However 3 groups were detected at 84% . of
dissimilarity among 24 populations. Nepalese varieties Rato Basmati, Pahenle and
Jetho Budho grouped in a separate cluster in the dendrogram.