Structure of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) diversity in West Africa covaries with a climatic gradient

Abstract

Sub-Saharan agriculture has been identified as vulnerable to ongoing climate change. Adaptation of agriculture has been suggested as a way to maintain productivity. Better knowledge of intra-specific diversity of varieties is prerequisites for the successful management of such adaptation. Among crops, root and tubers play important roles in food security and economic growth for the most vulnerable populations in Africa. Here, we focus on the sweet potato. The Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) was domesticated in Central and South America and was later introduced into Africa and is now cultivated throughout tropical Africa. We evaluated its diversity in West Africa by sampling a region extending from the coastal area of Togo to the northern Sahelian region of Senegal that represents a range of climatic conditions. Using 12 microsatellite markers, we evaluated 132 varieties along this gradient. Phenotypic data from field trials conducted in three seasons was also obtained. Genetic diversity in West Africa was found to be 18% lower than in America. Genetic diversity in West Africa is structured into five groups, with some groups found in very specific climatic areas, e.g. under a tropical humid climate, or under a Sahelian climate. We also observed genetic groups that occur in a wider range of climates. The genetic groups were also associated with morphological differentiation, mainly the shape of the leaves and the color of the stem or root. This particular structure of diversity along a climatic gradient with association to phenotypic variability can be used for conservation strategies. If such structure is proved to be associated with specific climatic adaptation, it will also allow developing strategies to adapt agriculture to ongoing climate variation in West Africa.

Investigating the influence of novel drying methods on sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.): Kinetics, energy consumption, color, and microstructure

“…According to FAO statistics of the world output in 2001 (FAO, ), about 308 million tons of sweet potatoes were harvested on 19 million hectares with an average productivity of 16 tons/hectare. Africa and Asia are the largest producing continents with a total of 94% of the world annual production (Glato et al, ). Sweet potato has gained significant prominence in the past decade owing to its high nutritional value, especially vitamin C, dietary fiber, irons, minerals, provitamin A, carotenoid, bioactive β‐carotene, and phenolic compounds (Lee & Lee, ; Nabubuya, Namutebi, Byaruhanga, Narvhus, & Wicklund, ).…”

Phenotypic Variation in Leaf Morphology of the USDA, ARS Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) Germplasm Collection

“…Quantitative phenotypic traits result from complex interactions between genetic factors and the environmental conditions, which affect phenotypic expression (Delazari et al, 2018;Manrique and Hermann, 2001;Ochieng, 2019). Like all plant species, sweetpotatoes produce slightly different phenotypes under different environmental conditions (Glato et al, 2017;Sulistiani et al, 2018). This phenotypic plasticity (Sultan, 2000) can manifest itself in different ways, including affecting leaf shape and size.…”

African Orphan Crops Consortium (AOCC): status of developing genomic resources for African orphan crops

“…Pumpkin has been reported from many countries in tropical Africa and probably occurs in all the countries (PROTA 2018), where it is grown as a fruit vegetable Done by CuGenDB; http://cucur bitge nomic s.org (Zheng et al 2019) Yet to begin Sweet potato is an introduced root tuber species to Africa, but now it is grown extensively in all the tropical Africa primarily in eastern and western Africa (Glato et al 2017) By collaborator Mango is a naturalized fruit tree in Africa and is grown in tropical parts of Western, and eastern Africa (Orwa et al 2009) By collaborator…”