African Journal of
Biotechnology

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Biotechnol.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1684-5315
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJB
  • Start Year: 2002
  • Published Articles: 12497

Full Length Research Paper

Improved SSRs-based genetic diversity assessment of coconuts (Cocos nucifera L) along the coast of Kenya

Masha Justus C.
  • Masha Justus C.
  • Pwani University, P. O. BOX 195-80108, Kilifi, Kenya.
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Muhammed Najya
  • Muhammed Najya
  • Pwani University, P. O. BOX 195-80108, Kilifi, Kenya.
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Njung’e Vincent
  • Njung’e Vincent
  • International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), P. O. Box 39063-00100, Nairobi, Kenya.
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Oyoo Maurice E.
  • Oyoo Maurice E.
  • Department of Crops, Horticulture and soil sciences, Egerton University, P. O. Box 536-20115, Egerton, Kenya.
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Miheso Manfred
  • Miheso Manfred
  • Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization - Food Crops Research Institute, Njoro, Kenya.
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  •  Received: 21 July 2020
  •  Accepted: 26 July 2022
  •  Published: 30 November 2022

Abstract

Coconut is the most important cash crop along the Coast of Kenya, yet its genetic diversity has not been fully established. Genetic diversity study of 48 coconut genotypes, collected at the Coastal Kenya was conducted with 13 polymorphic short sequence repeats (SSRs) markers. SSR analysis was performed using GeneMapper while data analysis was done with PowerMarker and DARwin softwares. Analysis revealed a total of 68 alleles ranging from 2 to 11 per locus with a mean of 5.23 per marker. Gene diversity and polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged between 0.41 to 0.83 and 0.33 to 0.79, respectively. Neighbour - joining dendrogram grouped the genotypes into three major clusters with distinct sub-clusters. This study underscored that capillary electrophoresis is a more accurate and informative technique for SSRs allele scoring as opposed to agarose gels. The clusters observed forms the basis to isolate conservation blocks, which is key to establishing a genebank, since there is no documented coconut genebank for ex-situ conservation in Kenya.

 

Key words: Coconut genetic diversity, capillary electrophoresis, polymorphic information content.

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This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

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