Simple sequence repeats (SSR) diversity of cassava in South, East and Central Africa in relation to resistance to cassava brown streak disease
Abstract
197 words
This study was conducted to: (1) determine the amount and structure of the genetic diversity of
cassava in southern, eastern and central (SEC) Africa using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, (2)
determine the frequency and distribution of alleles putatively associated with resistance to cassava
brown streak disease (CBSD) derived from the variety ‘Namikonga’, and (3) examine the genetic
relationships among some CBSD resistant genotypes. The major findings from this study were: (1) little
genetic differentiation was confirmed among countries (7%) with the majority of variation distributed
among individuals (93%), (2) the frequency of alleles putatively associated with resistance to CBSD was
found to be generally low (0.2 to 0.5) but widely dispersed in the cassava germplasm of the SEC Africa
region implying that if validated the markers will be useful for marker-assisted breeding on a broad
scale, (3) several distinct putative sources of resistance to CBSD seem to be present in the cassava
germplasm of SEC Africa offering the potential to pyramid genes for more effective and durable
resistance and (4) it may be more informative to assess cassava diversity in the SEC Africa region
based on pedigree (if known) or genetic relatedness, rather than geographical origin.
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