Morpho-agronomic and molecular characterisation of oil palm Elaeis guineensis Jacq. material from Angola

The characterisation of phytogenetic resources is used to improve conservation strategies, promote new sources of plant material, and design breeding strategies. In this study, we evaluated oil palm material with nine morpho-agronomic traits and 30 microsatellite markers (Simple Sequence Repeats; SSRs) that had been previously collected in five geographical regions of Angola. The analysis of variance for components of bunch production and oil yield showed highly significant (p < 0.001) statistical differences between geographical regions and among families for all traits evaluated. The SSRs were highly informative, suggesting high genetic diversity (H (T) = 0.666) among the accessions evaluated. However, the clustering pattern at both morpho-agronomic and molecular levels did not match the geographical distribution of accessions, showing a low genetic differentiation (G (ST) = 0.039) between regions. On the other hand, genotypic (G (ST) = 0.150) and phenotypic differences were found among families, which could offer the potential for future genetic gains in the oil palm. The information generated indicates that the evaluated accessions have desirable characteristics that should be included in breeding programs, which could expand the genetic basis of the crop.