Abstract
The existence of genetic diversity in germplasm collections is crucial for cultivar development. Genetic relationships among 105 Bambara groundnuts (Vigna subterranea (L) Verdc.) accessions from Kenya were evaluated using 12 microsatellite markers. The Bambara landraces were collected from farmers in the western region and the National Genebank of Kenya. A total number of 24 alleles were revealed with a mean of 2 alleles per locus. The polymorphic information content and gene diversity values averaged 0.28 and 0.35, respectively indicating low genetic diversity among the evaluated Bambara groundnut germplasm. Genetic distance based on Jaccard’s similarity coefficient from the simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker analysis ranged from 0.08 to 1.16 among the landraces. Cluster analysis distinctly grouped the 105 accessions into three major clusters. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that 98% of the total genetic variation was within accessions whereas the genetic variation among accessions accounted for 2% of the total genetic variation. The genetic diversity observed in this study provides the basis for selection of appropriate parental genotypes for breeding programmes and mapping populations to further broaden the genetic base of Bambara groundnut germplasm in Kenya. Key words: Vigna subterranean, accessions, Kenya, microsatellite markers, gene diversity, cluster analysis.
Highlights
Evaluation of available genetic diversity is a pre-requisite for genetic improvement in crop plants, especially in underutilized crops such as Bambara groundnut (Olukolu et al, 2012)
Wild populations are known to be a potential source of useful genes and traits which could be introduced into the domesticated gene pool (Cattan-Toupance et al, 1998)
Our study reported shows that Bambara groundnut landraces from Kenya, form a genetically diverse population and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers can be effectively employed to assess genetic diversity and to measure the extent of genetic relationship among accessions
Summary
Evaluation of available genetic diversity is a pre-requisite for genetic improvement in crop plants, especially in underutilized crops such as Bambara groundnut (Olukolu et al, 2012). Investigation of genetic diversity in both wild and domesticated species is important. Wild populations are known to be a potential source of useful genes and traits which could be introduced into the domesticated gene pool (Cattan-Toupance et al, 1998). Wild populations in centers of diversity or domestication constitute the initial gene pool of crops species.
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