Plant & Animal Genomes XVI Conference

January 12-16, 2008
Town & Country Convention Center
San Diego, CA

Population Genetic Structure Of Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Landraces From Ethiopia And Kenya

Asrat Asfaw Amele , Matthew Blair

Common bean domesticated in the Andean South and Middle America is introduced to Africa in the 16th centuries. Since then farmers in Africa have developed farming practices adapted to the local condition by preservation and exploitation of its useful alleles. However, the pattern of population genetic structure of bean landraces from Ethiopia and Kenya and their relationships with the Andean and Mesoamerican gene pools is unknown. The present study deployed molecular and morphological characterization of the landraces from the two countries in comparison with CIAT controls. The 110 Ethiopian and 93 Kenyan landraces were compared with four CIAT checks using morphological traits and 36 SSR (simple sequence repeat) markers from market kits for common beans using fluorescently labeled primers and an abi3730 system for automated allele calling. This text presents the genetic relationships and diversity estimates among and within the landraces from two east Africa countries in relation to Andean and Mesoamerican gene pools.