MOLECULAR DIVERSITY OF ORANGE-FLESH SWEET POTATO (Ipomoea batatas [L.] Lam) GENOTYPES USING SIMPLE SEQUENCE REPEATS (SSR) MARKERS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33003/fjs-2026-1004-4890Keywords:
Genotypes, Genetic Diversity, Molecular Markers, Simple Sequence Repeat, Sweet PotatoAbstract
All breeding programs aimed at developing new and improved cultivars with desired traits primarily rely on information related to genetic diversity. Molecular characterisation of plant material has been fundamental for crop improvement, and genetic diversity has long been recognised as vital for the rational management and utilisation of crops. In this study, twenty-seven (27) genotypes of orange-fleshed sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas [L.] Lam) and ten (10) simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used to assess genetic diversity. The ten SSR markers proved highly informative in discriminating among the genotypes. These markers exhibited moderate average values for the number of alleles per locus (3.7), with a total of 282 alleles detected across all loci. Additionally, polymorphic information content (PIC) values were high (PIC > 0.50), indicating strong marker informativeness. Using the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic averages (UPGMA) based on similarity matrices, the 27 genotypes were clustered into eight primary groups at a similarity coefficient of 0.84. The findings of this study demonstrate that SSR markers can effectively estimate genetic diversity and analyse phylogenetic relationships. Moreover, these markers can assist sweet potato breeders in selecting desirable quantitative traits within their breeding programs.
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