Abstract
BackgroundPlectranthus edulis (Vatke) Agnew (locally known as Ethiopian dinich or Ethiopian potato) is one of the most economically important edible tuber crops indigenous to Ethiopia. Evaluating the extent of genetic diversity within and among populations is one of the first and most important steps in breeding and conservation measures. Hence, this study was aimed at evaluating the genetic diversity and population structure of this crop using collections from diverse agro-ecologies in Ethiopia.ResultsTwenty polymorphic expressed sequence tag based simple sequence repeat (EST-SSRs) markers were developed for P. edulis based on EST sequences of P. barbatus deposited in the GenBank. These markers were used for genetic diversity analyses of 287 individual plants representing 12 populations, and a total of 128 alleles were identified across the entire loci and populations. Different parameters were used to estimate the genetic diversity within populations; and gene diversity index (GD) ranged from 0.31 to 0.39 with overall mean of 0.35. Hierarchical analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed significant but low population differentiation with only 3% of the total variation accounted for variation among populations. Likewise, cluster and STRUCTURE analyses did not group the populations into sharply distinct clusters, which could be attributed to historical and contemporary gene flow and the reproductive biology of the crop.ConclusionsThese newly developed EST-SSR markers are highly polymorphic within P. edulis and hence are valuable genetic tools that can be used to evaluate the extent of genetic diversity and population structure of not only P. edulis but also various other species within the Lamiaceae family. Among the 12 populations studied, populations collected from Wenbera, Awi and Wolaita showed a higher genetic diversity as compared to other populations, and hence these areas can be considered as hot spots for in-situ conservation as well as for identification of genotypes that can be used in breeding programs.
Highlights
IntroductionPlectranthus edulis (Vatke) Agnew (locally known as Ethiopian dinich or Ethiopian potato) is one of the most economically important edible tuber crops indigenous to Ethiopia
Plectranthus edulis (Vatke) Agnew is one of the most economically important edible tuber crops indigenous to Ethiopia
In this study, we developed 20 Expressed sequence tags (EST)-simple sequence repeats (SSRs) markers for P. edulis based on EST sequences of P. barbatus deposited in the GenBank
Summary
Plectranthus edulis (Vatke) Agnew (locally known as Ethiopian dinich or Ethiopian potato) is one of the most economically important edible tuber crops indigenous to Ethiopia. The food potential of horticultural crops, those of indigenous edible roots and tubers have not been fully exploited despite their significant contributions to the livelihood of subsistence farmers Such crops are overlooked in terms of research and breeding and their production and management systems are restricted to local farmers’ varieties maintained by farmers using local knowledge [5,6,7]. Ethiopian dinich, is one of the most economically important indigenous tuber crops [2, 8] with wide distribution in parts of Africa, largely in wild form [9]. The crop can thrive and set tubers under significant environmental constraints including degraded and poor soil and can produce reasonable yield without a need for intensive management practices [10]
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