Mangrove plants are the most segregated plants, available only in coastal regions around the globe. Avicennia marina is the most abundant species luxuriously growing on the coast of Gujarat. The present study has endeavored to understand the intra-species diversity of this plant along the coast of Gujarat. A total of 28 plant samples from the farthest reachable locations of Gujarat coast were collected. All the samples were representative of distinct locations of Gulf of Kachchh and Gulf of Khambhat. These samples were screened against 38 ISSR markers reported for molecular characterization of mangrove plants. All the 38 ISSR markers were found to be polymorphic in nature, thus showed 100% polymorphism. The Un-weighted Pair Group Arithmetic Mean Method (UPGMA) cluster analysis grouped all the 28 A. marina into 3 groups, with groups showing locational isolation. The groups can be classified as parent group and its variants. The ISSR marker analysis showed very high level of genetic variation within the population, as revealed by the low average values of Nei’s genetic diversity (H) of 0.1866, Shanon’s Diversity Index (I) of 0.3249 and high Percentage of Polymorphic Bands (PPB) of 99.45%. The results showed that the diversification of this species has occurred simultaneously along the Gujarat coast, which probably makes it the most luxuriously propagating species.

molecular characterization, ISSR, mangroves, Avicennia marina