Phenotypic characterization of maize landraces from Sahel and Coastal West Africa reveals marked diversity and potential for genetic improvement
Landraces of maize are invaluable sources of genetic variability for improving agronomic traits, and they hold great promise in developing new maize varieties with enhanced resilience to stresses. This study investigated the extent of phenotypic diversity among 196 maize landraces, representing gene pools from Burkina Faso, Ghana and Togo, and 14 improved populations/varieties from the IITA Maize Improvement Program. The results provide new insights into the potential of tropical maize landraces for genetic improvement of maize.
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Genetic diversity, population structure and key phenotypic traits driving variation within soybean collection in Ghana
Soybean is an important oilseed crop worldwide and it has recently become the crop of interest in Ghana. In this study, 142 soybean accessions were genotyped with 34 SSR markers and concurrently evaluated for five quantitative and two qualitative phenotypic traits. The assembled germplasm is genetically diverse with high variation in flowering and maturity period, and key yield components which could be exploited in developing superior varieties well adapted to Ghana and West Africa.
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Resequencing of 414 cultivated and wild watermelon accessions identifies selection for fruit quality traits
Fruit characteristics of sweet watermelon are largely the result of human selection. Here we report an improved watermelon reference genome and whole-genome resequencing of 414 accessions representing all extant species in the Citrullus genus. Our findings indicate that different loci affecting watermelon fruit size have been under selection during speciation, domestication and improvement. This study provides valuable genomic resources and sheds light on watermelon speciation and breeding history.
Read more: http://tiny.cc/9cyofz