Genetic analysis of yield and flesh colour in sweetpotato

Pre-breeding information on the inheritance mechanism of important sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas L.) agronomictraits is still limited. This study aimed at assessing the inheritance of five sweetpotato agronomic traits, viz.marketable fresh root yield (MFRY) and number (MNR), total fresh root yield (TFRY) and number (TNR) androot b-carotene content (RBCC). A 5 x 5 full diallel was performed and F1 progenies, evaluated in twoenvironments alongside the parents. The data were subjected to ANOVA and DiallelSAS-05 Griffing?s method 1.Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) based genetic distance and cluster analysis were performed on the parental linesusing Jaccard?s coefficient and the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic averages (UPGMA). Significantdifferences (P<0.01) were detected among the genotypes for MFRY, MNR, TFRY, TNR and RBCC. Significantgeneral and specific combining ability (P<0.01) effects were observed for all five traits. Additive gene action waspredominantly involved in the inheritance of these traits. High broad sense heritability values were observed forthe four yield parameters and for RBCC. The Jaccard?s similarity coefficient indicated moderate to low geneticsimilarity distances among the parents, implying high diversity. The knowledge on the inheritance and diversityof the parental genotypes enables more effective choice of parents in breeding improved varieties

SIM Naidoo et al., 'Genetic analysis of yield and flesh colour in sweetpotato', African Crop Science Journal, vol. 24(1), p.61, African Journals Online (AJOL), 2016