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Vernonia Schreb. is a genusin the family Asteraceae. It has over 1000 species which may be trees, shrubs,woody climbers or herbs. Some of the species are economically important assources of food and herbal medicine as well as for industrial purposes. Thisstudy was carried out to assess the genetic diversity of Vernoniaspecies in Nigeria. Molecular characterization was carried out on a total of 50Vernonia samples consisting of 34 samples (13 species) from fieldcollections and 16 samples (10 species) from Ife Herbarium collections making atotal of 23 species using 4 RAPD primers. Analysis of the molecular data wasdone using NTsys version 2.02j computer programme. Results from molecularstudies showed amplification through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with 4RAPD markers namely OPA-02, OPD-14, OPC-10 and OPE-01. Analysis of themolecular data grouped the samples into 4 Groups with only one speciesungrouped. Group I had 17 species, II had 3 species, III had 6 species while IVhad 2 species. V. amygdalina wasrepresented in all 4 Groups, V. glabra and V. guineense werepresent in Groups 1 and 3, V. tenoreana and V. purpurea werein Groups 1 and 2 respectively, while V.colorata remained ungrouped. All 50 Vernonia samples used in themolecular study clustered at 64% and analyzed at a similarity coefficient of72%. This analysis revealed that RADP markers are useful tools in assessing thelevel of genetic diversity in Vernonia. |
