Abstract:
Dearth of information on extent of genetic
variability in cassava limits the genetic improvement of
cassava genotypes in Sierra Leone. The aim of this study
was to assess the genetic diversity and relationships within
102 cassava genotypes using agro-morphological and single
nucleotide polymorphism markers. Morphological
classification based on qualitative traits categorized the
germplasm into five different groups, whereas the quantitative
trait set had four groups. The SNP markers classified
the germplasm into three main cluster groups. A total of
seven principal components (PCs) in the qualitative and
four PCs in the quantitative trait sets accounted for 79.03%
and 72.30% of the total genetic variation, respectively.
Significant and positive correlations were observed
between average yield per plant and harvest index
(r = 0.76***), number of storage roots per plant and harvest
index (r = 0.33*), height at first branching and harvest
index (0.26*), number of storage roots per plant and
average yield per plant (r = 0.58*), height at first branching
and average yield per plant (r = 0.24*), length of leaf lobe
and petiole length (r = 0.38*), number of leaf lobe and
petiole length (r = 0.31*), width of leaf lobe and length of
leaf lobe (r = 0.36*), number of leaf lobe and length of leaf
lobe (r = 0.43*), starch content and dry matter content
