Abstract
The understanding of genetic diversity within local crop varieties constitutes an important step in the preservation of their genetic potential. The objective of this study was to assess the genetic diversity of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) cultivated in the Northwest of Benin and to reveal certain fundamental evolutionary mechanisms. A total of 61 accessions of sorghum landraces belonging to the four identified races in Benin were estimated using 20 microsatellite markers. For all the loci analyzed, 140 polymorphic alleles were detected with a mean value of 7.00 per locus and polymorphic information content (PIC) average value was 0.33 for all the 20 simple sequence repeats (SSRs), suggesting an important genetic diversity within the cultivated sorghum germplasm used. An unweighted pair group method arithmetic average (UPGMA) clustering and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) based on DICE coefficient revealed three major genetic groups supported by two main components: the botanical race and the morpho-physiological characteristics of the grains (colour and degree of bitterness). It was thus recommended that further research on genetic diversity of sorghum should integrate these genetic parameters for a better preservation of the genetic resources of this important crop in Benin. Key words: Genetic diversity, simple sequence repeats (SSRs) markers, Sorghum bicolor, Benin.
Highlights
Knowledge of the level of genetic diversity and structure in crop plants constitutes a very important aspect in selection, conservation and/or genetic improvement programmes
These last decades, an important basic activity in the management of genetic resources has been the assessment of genetic diversity and its structure within cultivated plants (Brown, 1989; Bhosale et al, 2011)
This study showed that the genetic diversity of local varieties of the three studied regions was similar and no correlations could be established between the genetic features and the culinary characteristics of varieties
Summary
Knowledge of the level of genetic diversity and structure in crop plants constitutes a very important aspect in selection, conservation and/or genetic improvement programmes It is necessary for the development of sustainable preservation programmes of plant genetic resources (Adoukonou-Sagbadja et al., 2007). These last decades, an important basic activity in the management of genetic resources has been the assessment of genetic diversity and its structure within cultivated plants (Brown, 1989; Bhosale et al., 2011). S. bicolor is a monocotyledon plant of tropical origin, belonging to Poaceae family and the genus of Sorghum which includes
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