Phylogenetic diversity and relationships among Nigerian ‘egusi’ melon accessions using SSR markers

Abstract

‘Egusi’ melon Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai is an important vegetable crop in Nigeria, grown for its edible seeds and oils. The diverse areas in which the crop is cultivated make it a rich source of genetic resources for the species. To explore its diversity, 50 accessions of ‘egusi’ melon were collected from different agro-ecological parts of Nigeria and were evaluated using 25 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. A total of 49 bands were scored, of which 42 were polymorphic, accounting for 93.60% of the polymorphic loci. The PIC value ranged from 0.36–0.80. UPGMA cluster analysis revealed five distinct groups for SSR. PCA analysis revealed the distinction of the accessions NG/OE/MAR/09/014, NG/TO/APR/09/027 and A8. Based on the results of this study, SSR markers appear to be particularly useful for the estimation of genetic similarity among diverse accessions of melon.

Detailed Morphological and Molecular Characterizations of Melon (Cucumis melo L.) Accessions Collected from Northern Cyprus and Turkey

“…Idehen (2017) used SRAP markers to discriminate 50 'Egusi' melon accessions from different parts of Nigeria. At the end of the study, 65.48% of the bands were found to be polymorphic with similarity coefficients of the accessions ranging from 0.51-0.96 (Idehen, 2017). Wang and Wang (2011) analyzed polymorphism in 12 stiffen muskmelons, 30 thick-skin muskmelons, and two wild melon accessions using SRAP markers.…”