TITLE:
Molecular Markers for Genetic Diversity Studies in African Leafy Vegetables
AUTHORS:
Emmanuel O. Omondi, Thomas Debener, Marcus Linde, Mary Abukutsa-Onyango, Fekadu F. Dinssa, Traud Winkelmann
KEYWORDS:
AFLPs, Allozymes, Amaranthus, Cleome, ISSRs, Microsatellites, RAPDs, SNPs, Solanum, SSRs, Vigna
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Bioscience and Biotechnology,
Vol.7 No.3,
March
31,
2016
ABSTRACT: African leafy vegetables are becoming important crops in tackling nutrition and food security in
many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, since they provide important micronutrients and vitamins, and
help resource-poor farm families bridge lean periods of food shortage. Genetic diversity studies
are essential for crop improvement programmes as well as germplasm conservation efforts, and
research on genetic diversity of these vegetables using molecular markers has been increasing
over time. Diversity studies have evolved from the use of morphological and biochemical markers
to molecular markers. Molecular markers provide valuable data, since they detect mostly selectively
neutral variations at the DNA level. They are well established and their strengths and limitations
have been described. New marker types are being developed from a combination of the
strengths of the basic techniques to improve sensitivity, reproducibility, polymorphic information
content, speed and cost. This review discusses the principles of some of the established molecular
markers and their application to genetic diversity studies of African leafy vegetables with a main
focus on the most common Solanum, Amaranthus, Cleome and Vigna species.