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Phenotypic diversity of plant morphological and root descriptor traits within a sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam., germplasm collection from Tanzania

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Abstract

In Tanzania sweet potato ranks as the third most important crop after cassava and potato. We studied the phenotypic diversity of morphological plant and root descriptor traits in accessions of the sweet potato germplasm collection of Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro and Sugarcane Research Institute, Kibaha, Tanzania, using phenotypic characters. A total number of 105 sweet potato accessions of different geographic origins were studied in field trials of The Sugarcane Research Institute at Kibaha Tanzania, and data were recorded for 27 phenotypic characters. Estimates of pair-wise phenotypic similarities using the Manhattan coefficient varied from 0.023 to 0.814, with a mean of 0.285. Cluster analysis was conducted using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) and Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCO). The clustering of phenotypic data resulted in a dendrogram which was discordant with geographic origin and AFLP data. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed highly significant variation among the accessions for 21 out of the 27 characters studied. Phenotypic analyses revealed a wider range of variability than AFLP analyses. Comparison of molecular and phenotypic data using the Mantel test showed a very low correlation (r 2 = 0.0007). Molecular and phenotypic classifications are discordant, and both are necessary to classify the germplasm correctly and to clarify genetic relationships among sweet potato accessions.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the staff at the Germplasm Centre of The Sugarcane Research Institute, Kibaha, and at Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania, for their cooperation and for supplying us with the phenotypic data of sweet potato accessions used in the study. This work has been partly supported by NORAD (Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, project 021 TARPII-SUA).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Health and Plant Protection Division, Department of Genetics and Biotechnology, Bioforsk, Norwegian Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Research, Høgskoleveien 7, 1432, Ås, Norway

    Abdelhameed Elameen, Sonja S. Klemsdal & Leif Sundheim

  2. Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, 1432, Ås, Norway

    Abdelhameed Elameen, Siri Fjellheim & Odd Arne Rognli

  3. Graminor AS, Torggården, 8049, Bodø, Norway

    Arild Larsen

  4. Department of Crop Science and Production, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P.O. Box 3005, Chuo Kikuu, Morogoro, Tanzania

    Susan Msolla

  5. Root/Tuber Crops Programme, Sugarcane Research Institute, P.O. Box 30031, Kibaha, Coast, Tanzania

    Esther Masumba

Authors
  1. Abdelhameed Elameen
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  2. Arild Larsen
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  3. Sonja S. Klemsdal
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  4. Siri Fjellheim
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  6. Susan Msolla
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  7. Esther Masumba
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  8. Odd Arne Rognli
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Correspondence to Sonja S. Klemsdal.

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Elameen, A., Larsen, A., Klemsdal, S.S. et al. Phenotypic diversity of plant morphological and root descriptor traits within a sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam., germplasm collection from Tanzania. Genet Resour Crop Evol 58, 397–407 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-010-9585-1

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