Genetika 2019 Volume 51, Issue 1, Pages: 227-236
https://doi.org/10.2298/GENSR1901227A
Full text ( 434 KB)
Genetic diversity in Cola acuminata and Cola nitida using RAPD primers
Akinro Lawrence A. (Department of Botany, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria)
Adesoye Adenubi I. (Department of Botany, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria)
Fasola Taiye R. (Department of Botany, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria)
Cola species constitute an important non-timber forest product. Besides the
food value, Cola is rich in numerous phytochemicals, making it more
important for its use in both African traditional medicine and potentials in
industrial pharmacopoeia. Knowledge about genetic diversity is essential for
conservation. In this paper, we reported genetic variability of Cola
acuminata and C. nitida germplasm across the Cola - producing states (the
rain forest and derived savannah zones) in Nigeria using Random Amplified
Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Fifteen primers which gives an average of
6.5 bands per primer were selected for both species. C. acuminata exhibited
a higher level of variation with 71.5% of the detected markers being
polymorphic (223 polymorphic alleles), whereas C. nitida presented 58.3%
variation with 182 polymorphicalleles. Inter-population differentiation was
measured as Jaccard’s similarity coefficient. The mean similarity index
amounted to 42.5% in C. acuminata and 46.7% in C. nitida respectively.
Results reveal the genetic structure of both species and conservation
strategies are suggested.
Keywords: Cola, conservation, biodiversity, forest resources, random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), molecular markers