Genetic Diversity of Wild Rice (<i>Oryza longistaminata</i>) in Ghana

Abstract

Oryza longistaminata is a wild rice taxon and an excellent source of genetic variation that remains largely unexploited. This study was conducted to understand the genetic diversity between and within O. longistaminata populations, collected from different geographic locations in Ghana. In this study, SSR markers were used to determine the intra-specific variability in O. longistaminata, and how the variation is partitioned within and between different populations. Analysis of molecular variance revealed high levels of polymorphism (95.9%) within the populations. The overall genetic diversity for all the loci in the six populations was high (Shannon's Information Index I = 0.579, Nei's unbiased expected heterozygosity, He = 0.405). Hierarchical partitioning also indicated a high genetic diversity between and within populations, with some level of relatedness between samples taken from the Savannah agroecological area. The high genetic diversity observed in this study offer a great opportunity for screening useful traits among the populations of O. longistaminata in Ghana for rice breeding programs.