Micro-satellite Diversity in Kenyan Sorghum Landraces

Climate change is hastening the genetic degradation of numerous crops in Kenya's semi-arid regions, jeopardising the food security of resource-poor farmers. Using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, this study evaluated the genetic diversity of available Sorghum bicolor L. germplasm with the goal of discovering varieties that can be chosen to suit the food security demands of these marginal areas. 39 SSR markers were genotyped on accessions from four agro-ecological areas based on their location in the genome and the high repeat sizes they represented. The alleles were called using the Gene Mapper software (version 3.7), sizes assigned with the allelobin software and the subsequent data analyzed with the Power Marker software (version 3.25). The diversity indices and intra-population structure were calculated using the Arlequin programme (version 2.0). Rogers modified distance was used to compute genetic distances, and principal component analysis was used to cluster the accessions (PCA). The average polymorphic information content (PIC) value was 0.536, suggesting moderate polymorphism levels. The variability within accessions among the populations was 56.37%, within individual accessions was 38.85% and among geographical origins was 4.78%. A low level of genetic differentiation (FST = 0.048) and a high inbreeding level (FIS = 0.59) showed an increased degree of allele fixation. The findings revealed that, despite the fact that most of the accessions were identical, there was enough genetic variety within and within Kenyan sorghum landraces to aid in the increase of sorghum yield.