Microsatellites based marker molecular analysis of Ghanaian bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) landraces alongside morphological characterization

Bambara groundnut an indigenous crop of African origin is drought tolerant and the third most important leguminous crop in Ghana and Sub-Saharan Africa. In order to assess the level of genetic diversity within a small collection of Ghanaian landraces, molecular analysis was performed using microsatellite markers alongside characterization of morphological features. Genetic distance based on Jaccard's similarity coefficient from the SSR marker analysis ranged from 0.48 to 0.9 among the landraces. 80 individual genotypes were clustered into 17 units with substantial levels of inter- and intra-landrace polymorphism. The analyses of variance from the morphological characterization for all quantitative traits were statistically significant (p < 0.05) except for terminal leaflet width. The first 4 principal components accounted for 41.97, 20.15, 13.39 and 9.81 % respectively of the morphological variations among the landraces. Qualitative traits however accounted for less of these variations. The results of the present study support the availability of high level of polymorphism within the collection of bambara groundnut analysed. This report is useful to crop improvement and germplasm conservation of bambara groundnut in Ghana.