African Journal of
Biotechnology

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Biotechnol.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1684-5315
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJB
  • Start Year: 2002
  • Published Articles: 12501

Full Length Research Paper

Genetic diversity study of Kenyan cassava germplasm using simple sequence repeats

John N. Ndung’u
  • John N. Ndung’u
  • Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, KARI - Njoro, P.O. Private Bag, Njoro, 20107, Kenya
  • Search for this author on:
  • Google Scholar
Francis N. Wachira
  • Francis N. Wachira
  • ASARECA, P. O Box, 765, Entebbee, Uganda
  • Search for this author on:
  • Google Scholar
Peter Njau
  • Peter Njau
  • Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, KARI - Njoro, P.O. Private Bag, Njoro, 20107, Kenya
  • Search for this author on:
  • Google Scholar
Henry Okwaro
  • Henry Okwaro
  • Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, KARI - Njoro, P.O. Private Bag, Njoro, 20107, Kenya
  • Search for this author on:
  • Google Scholar
Hannington Obiero
  • Hannington Obiero
  • Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, KARI - Kakamega, P.O. Box 169, Kakamega, Kenya
  • Search for this author on:
  • Google Scholar
David K. Lelgut
  • David K. Lelgut
  • Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, KARI - Njoro, P.O. Private Bag, Njoro, 20107, Kenya
  • Search for this author on:
  • Google Scholar
Miriam G. Kinyua
  • Miriam G. Kinyua
  • Department of Biotechnology, Moi University, P.O. 1125 Eldoret, Kenya
  • Search for this author on:
  • Google Scholar


  •  Accepted: 17 August 2013
  •  Published: 19 February 2014

Abstract

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Cranzt) is an important food security crop for resource poor rural communities particularly in Africa. Little is however known about molecular diversity of Kenyan cassava germplasm. This led to a study whose objective was to identify genetic constitution of cassava accessions from different regions of Kenya using molecular tools. Seven pairs of micro satellite (SSR) primers previously developed from cassava were used to detect polymorphic 21 alleles in a sample of 69 accessions. The cluster analysis of similarity matrix obtained at 68% with SSR data showed that the 69 accessions were grouped into five marker based groups. This study proved that SSRs could be used to identify cassava accessions as well as in the assessment of level of genetic relatedness among accessions.

Key words: Cassava, simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, genetic diversity.

Copyright © 2025 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article.

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

Back to Vol. 13 No. 8
Back to articles
SUBSCRIBE TO RSS
SUBMIT MANUSCRIPT
CONFERENCES