Genetic diversity of Venezuelan cassava collection

Cassava (Manihot eseulenta Crantz), is an important root crop in most tropical countries. It is a starchy staple crop for millions of people in the tropics and usually cultivated in marginal environments, mostly by small farmers. Recent progress has been made in the application of molecular genetic diversity analysis for cassava breeding and in the development of genomic and bioinformatics tools to increase our knowledge of cassava genome structure and gene function. In this study, we report the genetic diversity of Venezuelan cassava accessions using 19 RAPD, 4 SSR and 19 morphological traits. One hundred and seventy two accessions were studied using genomic DNA isolated from fully expanded young leaves. PCR amplifications of RAPD and SSR were performed. Morphological traits were measured in the field. Genetic relationships among accessions were investigated using cluster and ordination analysis of the dissimilarity data. STATIS methodology was used to calculate an overall consensus from the subspaces that generate the different characterizations.