Author(s)

Maxwell N. Okoye^1,2, Michael I. Uguru², Claude Bakoumé³, Rajinder Singh⁴, Christy O. Okwuagwu¹

¹Plant Breeding Division, Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR), Benin, Nigeria.
²Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.
³Sime Darby Technology Centre, UPM-MTDC Technology Centre III, Serdang, Malaysia.
⁴Advanced Biotechnology and Breeding Centre, Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), Persiaran Institusi,Kajang, Malaysia.

The genetic diversity among 15 NIFOR breeding parents was assessed using 10 microsatellite markers. A high genetic diversity was observed with a total of 64 alleles including 23 rare alleles or alleles at frequencies less than 0.05. The NIFOR tenera parents recorded the highest number of rare alleles. The average observed heterozygosity and mean gene diversity across all parental groups were 0.6889 and 0.7029, respectively. Higher genetic diversity was detected among the NIFOR dura and tenera parents compared to that of the Deli dura parents in absolute terms. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that 87% of the total variation (p < 0.001) observed was due to differences among parents. Rogers’ genetic distance ranged from 0.2988 to 0.8000 (mean = 0.5570). The dendrogram constructed on the basis of Rogers’ genetic distance clustered the parents in three groups. They generally clustered in heterotic manner rather than by geographic origins. The groupings obtained through PCoA confirmed the results obtained by cluster analysis. The results obtained are strong assets for NIFOR breeding programme.

Allelic Diversity, Elaeis guineensis Jacq, Genetic Distance, Heterosis, Molecular Characterization, NIFOR, Population Genetics, Selection, SSR Markers

Okoye, M. , Uguru, M. , Bakoumé, C. , Singh, R. and Okwuagwu, C. (2016) Assessment of Genetic Diversity of NIFOR Oil Palm Main Breeding Parent Genotypes Using Microsatellite Markers. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 7, 218-237. doi: 10.4236/ajps.2016.71022.