Abstract
The Ethiopian garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.) is an important crop extensively used as food and medicine. In this study, total seed storage proteins of 112 garden cress genotypes collected from diverse growing regions in Ethiopia were investigated to assess patterns of genetic diversity and relationships. Using sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), a total of 1774 stable protein bands were identified through discontinuous electrophoresis. Of these, 1597 bands were polymorphic. A maximum of 20 protein sub-units in the range of 15 to 75 kDa were observed per genotype. The similarity coefficient among these genotypes ranged from 0.25 to 1.00 with an average genetic dissimilarity of 0.2754. On the basis of Ward Euclidian distance, the genotypes were grouped into five major clusters, the largest one comprised of 62 genotypes (Cluster III) followed by 26 genotypes in Cluster I. Cluster IV and V contained a total of 14 genotypes that were the most distantly related to other groups, and thus can be potentially used as parents for exploitation of heterotic effects in hybrid breeding programs. Our findings using SDS-PAGE profiles revealed no obvious association between geographic region of origin and germplasm clustering. However, the polymorphism and cluster analysis indicated that garden cress genotypes differed greatly in the composition of seed proteins. This shows that protein profiling could be used as a rapid and reliable method for genetic diversity studies. In order to fully explore the protein based genetic diversity in garden cress germplasm, techniques such as 2-D gel electrophoresis are recommended in future studies. Key words: Cluster analysis, dissimilarity index, garden cress, Lepidium sativum, protein polymorphism, protein profiling, sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), seed storage protein.
Highlights
Garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.) belongs to the family Brassicaceae and the genus Lepidium which contains about 150 species that are distributed throughout almost all temperate and subtropical regions of the world (Bermejo and Leon, 1994; Wadhwa et al, 2012; Rava, 2016)
Using sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), a total of 1774 stable protein bands were identified through discontinuous electrophoresis
In order to fully explore the protein based genetic diversity in garden cress germplasm, techniques such as 2-D gel electrophoresis are recommended in future studies
Summary
Garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.) belongs to the family Brassicaceae and the genus Lepidium which contains about 150 species that are distributed throughout almost all temperate and subtropical regions of the world (Bermejo and Leon, 1994; Wadhwa et al, 2012; Rava, 2016). Its seeds are rich source of proteins, carbohydrate, fat (for example omega-3 fatty acids), dietary fiber, vitamins (tocopherol, β--carotene and ascorbic acids), minerals (K, Mg, P, Ca, Fe), and other essential nutrients and phytochemicals (Gokavi et al, 2004; Doke and Guha, 2014). This indicates that the seeds of garden cress play vital role as a promising multipurpose medicinal and nutritional plant. Garden cress is becoming popular because of its superior medicinal and nutritional values and due to its contribution in the biofortification of nutritionally inferior crops (Manohar et al, 2012; Singh et al, 2015) in order to ensure the nutritional security of the global population
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