Author(s)

Hafiz A. Salami¹, Kamirou Chabi Sika¹, Wilfrid Padonou², Djima Aly³, Chabi Yallou⁴, Adolphe Adjanohoun³, Simeon Kotchoni⁵, Lamine Baba-Moussa^1*

¹Laboratoire de Biologie et de Typage Moléculaire en Microbiologie, Département de Biochimie et de Biologie Cellulaire, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou, Bénin.
²Programme de Technologie Agricole (PTAA), Institut National des Recherches Agricoles du Bénin (INRAB), Porto-Novo, Bénin.
³Centre de Recherches Agricoles Sud, Institut National des Recherches Agricoles du Bénin (INRAB), Cotonou, Bénin.
⁴Centre de Recherches Agricoles Nord, Institut National des Recherches Agricoles du Bénin (INRAB), Ina, Bénin.
⁵Departement of Biology, Rutgers University, Camden, USA.

Maize (Zea mays L.) is the major cereal cultivated in Benin and it is important to know its genetic diversity to improve the yield. The genetic markers of important traits are evaluated in order to improve the maize inbred lines. The aim of this study was to evaluate the genetic diversity of Benin’s maize accessions by SSR marker. Thus, one hundred eighty seven maize accessions from three areas (South, Center and North) were analyzed using three SSR markers. A total of 227 polymorphic bands were produced and showed high genetic diversity (Shannon index = 0.51). The polymorphic information content (PIC) values for the SSR loci ranged from 0.58 to 0.81, with an average of 0.71. Genetic distance-based UPGMA dendrogram showed a genetic differentiation between accessions and they were grouped into four clusters in each area. This work provides necessary information that can be used not only to improve the maize production and conservation but also to better manage genetic species resources in Benin.

SSR, PCR, Molecular Characterization, LZea mays L., Benin

Salami, H. , Sika, K. , Padonou, W. , Aly, D. , Yallou, C. , Adjanohoun, A. , Kotchoni, S. and Baba-Moussa, L. (2016) Genetic Diversity of Maize Accessions (Zea mays L.) Cultivated from Benin Using Microsatellites Markers. American Journal of Molecular Biology, 6, 12-24. doi: 10.4236/ajmb.2016.61002.