The genetic relationships among twenty-five accessions of Garcinia kola using six Random Amplified Polymorphic (RAPD) primers were evaluated in this study. The highest volume of total genomic DNA (2218/µl) was recorded in ON4 from Ikare, while the highest DNA concentration of 1.93 gl was found in OS3 from Ilesa. The highest Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) and gene diversity of 93.77% and 0.94 respectively were revealed by primer OPO2 compared to other primers. The dendogram generated from Unweighted Pair Group with Mean Average (UPGMA) clustering delineated two groups, A and B, consisting of 21 and 4 accessions respectively. This study clearly showed the level of molecular diversity in the accessions and the information provided could be utilized for genetic improvement and conservation of Garcinia kola.

Ten genotypes of maize collected from National Center for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB) were induced with X-ray for morphological and molecular assessment. The experimental design was complete randomized design with four replicates. Morphological and molecular statistical analyses of treated genotypes were conducted using SAS and Power Maker Packages, respectively while dendrogram was generated using Jaccards similarity coefficient using Unweighted Paired Group Method and Arithmetic Averages (UPGMA). The study revealed significant difference which is an indication of genetic variation of characters in treated maize. Genotype DTSR-Wco performed best in plant height (62.35 cm), leaf length (62.35 cm), number of leaves (3.15), leaf width (7.55 cm) and dry leaf biomass (0.24 g). X-ray at 90 Kv/mass, 95 Kv/mass and 100 Kv/mass decreased plant heights to 54.25cm, 53.87cm and 54.10cm respectively compared to Control. Heritability estimate was greater than 70% for all characters evaluated. Genotype TZM 1551 at 0 Kv/mass yielded the highest concentration of DNA at 2841.60 ng/ul and the highest genomic DNA concentration was obtained at 95 Kv/mass for TZM 132 with 1.91%. Primer BMC 1755 was most polymorphic with 58.77% in treated maize genotypes. The plant height was strongly correlated with leaf length (r=0.9), leaf width (r=0.76) and number of leaves (r=0.77). Principal component analysis showed close relationship between plant height (-0.03) and leaf length (0.05) compared with leaf width (-0.67) and number of leaves (0.69). Dry shoot biomass (0.05) was closely related to dry root biomass (-0.03) and dry leaf biomass (-0.04).

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF, Glomus clarum) has been used widely as a bio-amendment and bio-control agent in several biotechnological studies. In this study, biofortification of maize with provitamin A using AMF was investigated. Five maize varieties (V1 = white drought-resistant maize, V2= yellow provitamin A maize, V3= white drought-tolerant maize, V4= yellow striga-resistant maize and V5= white striga-resistant maize) were evaluated in a screen house experiment laid out in a completely randomized design with three treatments: T1 = maize + AMF before planting, T2 = maize + AMF, inoculated two weeks after planting and T3 (control) = maize only, and four replications. The result showed that AMF significantly (p<0.05, p = 0.0029) increased the provitamin A level of the maize varieties. White drought-tolerant maize (V3) had the highest provitamin A content (581.57 µg) after harvest, while the least (288.33 µg) was found in white drought-resistant maize (V1). Also, the effect of the treatments on the growth traits (plant height, leaf length, number of leaves per plant) of the maize varieties was highly significant.  Therefore, AMF could be considered in breeding maize with high provitamin A content and improved morphological characters.