Abstract:
The present study determined genetic diversity among seventeen
Dtoscorea accessions comprising eleven D. alata, two D, bulbifera, two
D. esculenta, one D. pentaphytla and one D. spicafa conserved at the
Plant Genetic Resources Center (PGRC), Sri Lanka, Morphologicat
analysis \Mas done using 55 standard morphological descriptors of Yarn
and, molecular analysis using 15 SSR markers. Statistical analysis for
morphological data was done using MINITAB 16, molecular analysis
using PowerMarker version 3.25 and MEGA 6.06 software respectively.
Results revealed a significant degree of genetic diversity among tested
accessions, Five clusters were observed according to the cluster
analysis of morphological characterization. A high variation was
observed among D" pentaphytta and D" esculenta accessions and
rernaining Dioscorea spp. Similarities of morphological characters
clustered D. alata accessions with D. bulbifera and D. spicafa.
Statistically analyzed molecular data revealed a considerable genetic
variation among selected accessions generating a total of 55 alleles with
polymorphism in 13 SSR markers. Phylogenetic tree constructed based
on Nei's (1983) genetic distance and UPGMA algorithm consists of
seven major clusters separating D. alata onto one cluster and other
Droscorea spp. into other different clusters revealing no duplicates
arnong tested accessions.
