Rodríguez-Bonilla, Lorraine

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    Assessment of the genetic diversity of Puerto Rican sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.)
    (2013) Rodríguez-Bonilla, Lorraine; Siritunga, Dimuth; College of Arts and Sciences - Sciences; Ortiz Malavé, Carlos; Bird Picó, Fernando; Department of Biology; Beaver, James
    Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) is the seventh most important food crop after maize, wheat, rice, barley, potato and cassava. Due to its many agricultural advantages, such as adaptability to different environmental conditions and its nutritional value, research focuses of sweet potato are increasing. Because the genetic diversity of sweet potato in Puerto Rico is poorly understood, there is a need to assess its diversity, especially among sweet potatoes cultivated by farmers in the island. A total of 137 samples of unknown origin from around the island were collected. This collection as well as 8 accessions from the Puerto Rican germplasm collection plus 8 accessions from the National Repository in Griffin GA, were subjected to a genetic diversity analysis with 23 SSR markers using an fluorescent PCR technique. The results of the analysis of the 23 loci showed a total of 205 alleles in the 155 samples, ranging from 2 to 20 alleles per locus with an average of 8.9 alleles per loci. Overall average observed heterozygosity (Ho) was high across populations with a value of 0.637 while measurements of total heterozygosity (Ht) revealed a large genetic diversity throughout the populations with a value of 0.731. The heterozygosity within populations (Hs) was 0.694 revealing high levels of genetic diversity in the populations. From the UPGMA clustering method two main clusters were depicted. Cluster I contained 19 unknown accessions from across the island while cluster II had the majority of unknown samples as well as the known accessions from PR and GA. Cluster II was subdivided into 4 smaller sub-clusters. In Sub-cluster 1 we had the majority of known samples, they clustered very closely together. Sub-cluster 2 samples from across the island grouped together and most samples were white fleshed accessions. Interestingly, two accessions in sub-cluster 3 were identified as clones (11W, 17W), both from the West but differing in flesh color. We can conclude that there is in fact a high level of genetic diversity across the island which can be related to genetic makeup of sweet potato, the ability of dispersal of a vegetatively propagated crop, human intervention and the outcrossing nature of sweet potato. High levels of diversity found in Puerto Rico and the history of domestication and dispersal of sweet potato turn this crop into an extremely valuable resource that needs to be protected and further studied.