Genetic characterization of cultivated bananas and plantains in Kenya by RAPD markers

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based approach, namely, random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) was used to estimate the genetic relationships among 20 selected banana cultivars from different regions of Kenya. Nineteen random primers were used. The polymorphisms in PCR amplification products were subjected to the unweighted pair group method for arithmetic averages (UPGMA) and plotted in a phenogram. The dendogram constructed from the similarity data showed that all the 20 cultivars analysed were related. The highly related cultivars included Ng' ombe, Nusu Ng' ombe, Ntobe, Sialamule, Kimuga, Kibuzi, Sibusi, Bukamba, Mfupi and Gitigi whose genome was AAA. The cultivars Manyatta, Mokoya, Murure and Horn plantain whose genome was AAB were less similar while Pekera, Muraru, Spambia, Matumbo, Nyar Sausett and Mtama formed the least related group. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.