Assessment of Genetic Variability in Sorghum Accessions (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) at the National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

The determination of genetic variation using molecular markers has been found to facilitate the conservation of crops and ensure food security. Genetic diversity among 80 accessions of S. bicolor in the gene bank of National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB) Ibadan, was studied using 5 pairs of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. The polymorphic information content (PIC) of individual primer ranged from 0.34 to 0.70 with a mean value of 0.54 indicating enough diversity or variability among the accessions studied. The binary matrix obtained from the gel profiles generated a dendrogram which was made up of 4 clusters and one ungrouped accession at 0.66 coefficients of similarity. From the clustering pattern, 7 pairs of accessions were found to be 100% similar. Each similar pairs were subsequently merged together and reduced to a total of 7 accessions. However, it was also observed that the geographical location of collection of accessions did not affect the clustering pattern. The information obtained from this study could serve as the basis for the improvement and breeding programs of Sorghum to achieve food security in the country, and by extension, worldwide. 

Keywords: Sorghum; Simple Sequence Repeat markers; Genetic variation; Polymorphic Information Content; Coefficient of similarity.