Genetic Diversity Analysis of Forty Pearl Millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br) Accessions from Sudan Using Agronomical Descriptors and DNA Molecular Markers

Morphological descriptors and Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique were used to assess the genetic variation among and within forty Pennesitum glaucum accessions from Sudan. Accessions were collected from 30 villages representing Darfur, North Kordofan, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile states. 64 amplified fragments were distinguished using ten primers. 63 bands were polymorphic among the forty accessions with an average of 6.3 polymorphic bands per primer. Low level of genetic similarity was observed (4% - 43%). The PhiPT (analogue of FST fixation index) value for genetic variability obtained over the four regions was 0.169 with high significance (P = 0.01). AMOVA analysis showed higher variance components within regions (80%) than among regions (20%). The two dendrograms obtained by Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) data; and morphological data based on 26 descriptors did not fit together. PCA (Principal coordinate’s analysis) showed geographic structuring of pearl millet according to its growing regions in Sudan.