MICROSATELLITE DNA MARKER FOR MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF AFRICAN MAIZE (Zea mays L.) LANDRACES

Abstract

Maize (Zea mays L) originated from Mexico but has been introduced and domesticated in various parts of the world. Maize is an important cereal crop having subsistent, commercial and industrial uses. The aim of this study was to characterize genetic diversity in some African maize landraces using microsatellite DNA markers. Maize landraces were collected from some parts of Edo State, Nigeria, while others were sourced from IITA (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture), Ibadan, Nigeria and Premier Seed Company, Nigeria. Fourteen populations of 15 plants each were characterized, the application of 7 microsatellite markers sufficiently provided information on genetic diversity of all 14 populations investigated. The study revealed a total number of 21 alleles across all loci, with a mean number of 3 alleles per locus. Polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged from 0.26 (umc1161) to 0.71 (umc1196), with a mean of 0.52, indicating that markers used were polymorphic. The dendrogram displayed two main clusters; cluster 1 had most populations from Nigeria grouped together with populations from Malawi and Togo, while populations from Guinea, Chad, Tzm-ese, Tzm-enee and Tzm-1340 from Kano, Nigeria grouped together in cluster 2. Population Tzm-1413 from Somalia in East Africa was a complete outlier, as revealed by the dendrogram. Results suggest that the populations studied were not greatly diverse but can be used to establish a field trial, where germplasm will be scored based on adaptation, tolerance and resistance to biotic and abiotic factors, which will furthermore validate the genetic variability revealed by the microsatellite markers.