Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of <i>Brachiaria</i> (syn. <i>Urochloa</i>) Ecotypes from Uganda

• Main Authors: Clementine Namazzi, Julius Pyton Sserumaga, Swidiq Mugerwa, Martina Kyalo, Collins Mutai, Robert Mwesigwa, Appolinaire Djikeng, Sita Ghimire
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-08-01
• Series: Agronomy
• Subjects: cluster analysis; polymorphic information content; genetic variation; forage grass; polyploidy; phylogenetic
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/10/8/1193

<i>Brachiaria</i> (syn. <i>Urochloa</i>) grass is an important tropical forage of African origin that supports millions of livestock and wildlife in the tropics. Overgrazing, conversion of grasslands for crop production and non-agricultural uses, and the introduction of improved forages have threatened the natural diversity of <i>Brachiaria</i> grass in Uganda. This study established a national collection of <i>Brachiaria</i> ecotypes in Uganda and analyzed them for genetic diversity and population structure using 24 simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers. These markers had a high discriminating ability with an average polymorphism information content (PIC) of 0.89 and detected 584 alleles in 99 ecotypes. Analysis of molecular variance revealed a high within populations variance (98%) indicating a high gene exchange or low genetic differentiation (PhiPT = 00.016) among the ecotype populations. The Bayesian model based clustering algorithm showed three allelic pools in Ugandan ecotypes. The principal component analysis (PCA) of ecotypes, and Neighbor-joining (NJ) tree of ecotypes and six commercial cultivars showed three main groups with variable membership coefficients. About 95% of ecotype pairs had Rogers’ genetic distance above 0.75, suggesting most of them were distantly related. This study confirms the high value of these ecotypes in <i>Brachiaria</i> grass conservation and improvement programs in Uganda and elsewhere.