2025/06/01 by Alemayehu Kassa, Librada Alcaraz, Nerea Larrañaga +3 · 1 voice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Banana Cultivation and Research #Cocoa and Sweet Potato Agronomy #Plant Physiology and Cultivation Studies
paper · doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2025.114211
openalex publication_date 2025/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
• For the first time the genetic diversity of Ethiopia mango was studied using SSR markers. • The analysis of genetic diversity revealed a relatively high level of heterozygosity and allelic diversity, however this diversity was structured in different ways among the compared mango genotypes. • The comparison with an international reference germplasm collection revealed that in Ethiopian mango there are genotypes that are closely related to existing commercial varieties but also genotypes that are not related to reference varieties, indicating a separate origin and underlying its uniqueness and conservation need. Mango is a fruit crop holding significant economic importance in east Africa. However, the genetic diversity of Ethiopian mango remains so far unexplored. Therefore, we carried out the genetic characterization of Ethiopian populations and germplasm resources using eight SSR markers. A total of 162 domestic mango accessions were compared with the available information on the genetic profile of 73 international reference cultivars maintained in the European mango reference collection. We detected 69 alleles and found a high level of heterozygosity (0.68) among Ethiopian mango populations. As expected, there was broader genetic variability in the international reference germplasm (i.e., higher expected heterozygosity, allelic richness and number of private alleles). The study revealed frequent cases of mismatches among the commercially distributed varieties in Ethiopia and their synonymous cultivars in the international reference germplasm. The UPGMA dendrogram and model based structure analysis showed the relationship of locally grown mango trees with commercially available cultivars in Ethiopia. The clustering and differentiation estimates indicate a consistent relationship among accessions, aligning with their geographical distribution. Structure analysis identified three subgroups within the entire dataset of genotypes and highlighted the distinctness of the domestic gene pool in comparison to the accessions in the international collection. Furthermore, our analysis identified unique cultivars within the reference germplasm that exhibited close genetic proximity to the domestic samples, thereby providing evidence of their significant role in diversifying Ethiopian mango populations. These findings contribute to the effective management and utilization of mango germplasm in Ethiopia and will enhance current breeding efforts in the country.